How a US Aircraft Carrier Became Part of a High-Stakes South China Sea Standoff | US News

There is no greater display of U.S. military might than an aircraft carrier—and when they move, the world watches. They are some kind of giant floating cities.

The US has 11 and they are still the best in the world.

The USS Nimitz is one of them. This is a huge flight deck below the engine room and control room. It can carry about 5,000 military personnel, or as many as 7,000 if you count the accompanying warships and jet “strike force.”

When we got on board, the ship was temporarily docked in South Korea and had just completed its deployment in the South China Sea.

Deployments like these are routine, but they come with the knowledge that they will be watched with particular attention by a major power: China, an increasingly assertive rival to the United States.

Lieutenant Ben Bushong served seven years in the U.S. Navy—most of which as a helicopter pilot—showing us around.

He and his colleagues know things are tense because they’ve been for a while.

“The big picture is to help maintain a free and open Indo-Pacific,” he said.

“I just want to say we’re always ready, we’ve been training, so if we get a call, we’re ready to respond.”

Lieutenant Ben Bushong told Sky News the aircraft carrier
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Lieutenant Ben Bushong told Sky News the carrier was “ready to respond”

Few feel more urgent to be prepared.

There are multiple facets to the U.S. standoff with China, and nearly all of them have become more worrisome.

Just a few weeks ago, China’s new foreign minister said that if the US did not “break the deadlock” on what it considered provocative, “conflict will surely follow”.

China is increasingly focusing on flexing its muscles in its surrounding waters.

It has been accused for years of militarizing disputed South China Sea islands and engaging in illegal fishing, but more recently it has also moved closer to the self-governing island of Taiwan.

There are also more specific worrisome incidents — just last week, China said it expelled a U.S. vessel that had “illegally” entered waters around the disputed Paracel Islands, a claim the U.S. denies.

Then there was declassified footage of a U.S. jet with a Chinese fighter jet flying just feet away from it, a move the U.S. said was aggressive and dangerous.

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The reality is that China is now able to flex those muscles as it rapidly develops the largest navy in the world, growing tenfold in the past 20 years alone.

But that’s why the U.S. presence here is so important, according to Rear Admiral Christopher Sweeney, who leads the Nimitz strike fleet.

“First, we will sail and fly wherever international law allows,” he said.

“My message to the PRC (People’s Republic of China) is that we are firm on this, we will not be bullied, we will not be coerced, and we will stay here and fly and operate according to international norms.”

Rear Admiral Christopher Sweeney to lead USS Nimitz strike fleet
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Rear Admiral Christopher Sweeney leads USS Nimitz’s strike force

China sees U.S. efforts here as part of a broader effort to contain it. Essentially, it treats the area as its own backyard.

But in response to the accusation, the admiral was firm.

“We do not seek to contain China, we do not seek conflict with China, we seek to set the international norms by which we all prosper.”

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If fighting does break out in the region, it will likely be over the island of Taiwan, the self-governing democracy that China considers its territory.

China does not rule out taking the island by force, which is one of the main goals of the United States.

At the same time, China’s increasingly assertive attitude is pushing many other Asian countries closer to the United States and each other.

Shows of allegiance to South Korea are paramount — the two countries will conduct joint exercises this week and will also cooperate with Japan next month.

While tensions between the U.S. and China have been largely invisible and hidden, the region is increasingly divided and a high-stakes standoff is playing out.

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