Satellite imagery appears to have captured a Chinese aircraft carrier transiting waters near the Philippines and Taiwan—both allies and partners of the United States—in the Pacific.

The Taiwanese Defense Ministry confirmed to local media that the Chinese aircraft carrier CNS Liaoning was off Taiwan’s southeast coast. Newsweek has reached out to both the Chinese Defense Ministry and the Armed Forces of the Philippines for comment by email.

Why It Matters

The Liaoning has been underway since leaving its home port on China‘s Yellow Sea coast over the weekend. It sailed southward into the East China Sea, later transiting the Miyako Strait near Japan‘s southwestern islands, and arrived in the Philippine Sea on Tuesday.

The aircraft carrier is part of China’s naval fleet of more than 370 vessels, the largest in the world by hull count. China has been employing its navy to further expand its military reach and presence, challenging America’s naval dominance in the Pacific Ocean.

Facing China’s rapid naval buildup, the U.S. aims to restrict the East Asian power’s access to the broader Pacific Ocean in a future conflict by using the so-called First Island Chain—a maritime containment strategy involving U.S.-aligned Japan, Taiwan and the Philippines.

What To Know

Damien Symon, an open-source intelligence expert, posted a satellite image on X (formerly Twitter) showing the Liaoning underway in the Philippine Sea, approximately 430 nautical miles (494 miles) southeast of Taiwan, accompanied by two escorting ships on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, a Chinese military observer, who requested anonymity because of the sensitivity of the topic, told Newsweek that satellite imagery indicated the Liaoning-led naval task group was 290 kilometers (180 miles) northeast of the Philippines’ Luzon Island on Wednesday.

It remains unclear whether the Chinese navy had dispatched the aircraft carrier and its strike group for exercises in the western Pacific Ocean. Taiwanese media have claimed that the Chinese military may be about to conduct drills in waters east of Taiwan starting on Friday.

While the Liaoning—China’s first operational aircraft carrier—was underway, the country’s second aircraft carrier, CNS Shandong, has yet to return to its home port on Hainan Island in the South China Sea since leaving around Monday, according to another satellite image.

Taiwan Security Monitor, a research initiative at George Mason University in Virginia, wrote in a post on X that both of the Chinese commissioned aircraft carriers are now at sea.

The dual Chinese aircraft carrier deployment comes as two American carriers were reported to be underway simultaneously in the western Pacific Ocean. USS Nimitz was operating in the South China Sea, while its sister ship, USS George Washington, was operating near Japan.

What People Are Saying

Mao Ning, spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, said on Wednesday: “What I can tell you is that China’s military vessels’ activities in relevant waters are fully consistent with international law and international practice.”

Colonel Su Tung-wei, deputy head of the Taiwanese Defense Ministry’s General Staff Operations and Planning Department, said on Wednesday: “We will also react accordingly to safeguard national security.”

The Pentagon’s Chinese military power report 2024 wrote: “The [People’s Republic of China] is in the beginning stages of operating its ‘multi-carrier force.'”

What Happens Next

It was not immediately clear whether the two Chinese aircraft carriers would conduct joint operations in either the South China Sea or the Philippine Sea to stage a show of force.