The two carrier groups have been spotted in the western Pacific Ocean, with the Liaoning’s passage taking it past Guam
Most notably, the Liaoning group travelled further east than Guam, the most fortified US military base in the band, marking the first time a Chinese navy carrier has reached beyond the second island chain.
Previous deployments – by the Liaoning in December 2022 and the Shandong in April 2023 – were some distance northwest of Guam. The Liaoning’s easternmost recorded location this time was about 3,200km (1,990 miles) from Midway Atoll and 5,500km (3,420 miles) from Hawaii.
The two 60,000-tonne Kuznetsov-class vessels – the PLA Navy’s only active carriers, with the Fujian still undergoing sea trials – were escorted by warships of significant size, representing China’s most powerful maritime strike forces to date.
