Chinese Navy Aircraft Conducted Exercises to Intercept U.S. Carrier

The Yomiuri Shimbun

16:09 JST, July 18, 2025

Two Chinese Navy aircraft carriers deployed to the Pacific Ocean around Japan and other areas in June had been conducting drills to intercept a U.S. carrier strike group, it has been learned.

Several Japanese government officials revealed this information. Chinese military forces apparently divided themselves into U.S. and Chinese military roles during the drills to mimic the navigational methods employed by U.S. aircraft carriers. The Chinese military is enhancing its capacity to prevent U.S. military intervention in the event of a conflict in Taiwan, according to a Japanese government analysis.

According to the Defense Ministry’s Joint Staff Office, the Chinese aircraft carriers Liaoning and Shandong have been deployed simultaneously in the Pacific Ocean around Japan since late May. From May 25 to June 19, fighter jets and helicopters aboard the Liaoning and the Shandong made a total of about 1,050 landings and takeoffs while the two naval vessels were sailing in the waters near islands including Okinawa, Okinotorishima and Minami-Torishima.

Drills simulating carrier interceptions were conducted for about a week starting around June 7. The Liaoning departed westward from within Japan’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) off Minami-Torishima Island around June 7. Over the course of several days, it crossed the so-called second island chain — China’s defense line connecting the Ogasawara Islands to Guam, where U.S. military bases are located — and then proceeded toward China.

Meanwhile, the Shandong moved eastward from the south of Okinawa Island to intercept the Liaoning. The analysis concluded that the Liaoning was acting as a U.S. aircraft carrier.

It is believed that U.S. aircraft carriers have a rule to maintain a certain distance from Chinese aircraft carriers to prevent skirmishes. According to a source close to the matter, the Liaoning moved to maintain a distance of about 500 nautical miles (about 930 kilometers) when approaching the Shandong. It is highly likely that the Chinese military was acting in accordance with U.S. regulations and imitating the movements of a U.S. aircraft carrier before entering a state of war.

At the end of June, China’s national defense ministry announced that the Liaoning and the Shandong had conducted drills in the western Pacific Ocean, training to engage with each other in realistic countermeasures. The statement is consistent with the Japanese government’s analysis.

On June 7 and 8, a Chinese vessel-based fighter jet abnormally approached a Maritime Self-Defense Force P-3C patrol aircraft while it was monitoring a Chinese aircraft carrier. This was likely an attempt to pressure the Japanese side to abandon surveillance and prevent them from obtaining information about the drills.

The Chinese military is developing the so-called A2/AD (Anti-Access/Area Denial) strategy to prevent U.S. military operations inside the second island chain and prevent U.S. forces from entering the so-called first island chain, connecting the Nansei Islands and the Philippines. A Self-Defense Forces source noted that the deployment of the two Chinese aircraft carriers may have been part of a move to materialize this strategy.