The Liaoning aircraft carrier group circumnavigated the Philippines in a semicircle, drawing loud protests from Philippine military officials, while the People’s Liberation Army Navy remained silent. Several days prior, residents of Zamboanga in the Philippines captured smartphone footage of a large vessel—identified as the Liaoning carrier group.
The formation includes the Liaoning aircraft carrier, two Type 055 destroyers—Tianjin and Wuxi—and the Type 052D destroyer Huainan. Traveling at a speed of 14 knots, the fleet passed near the southwestern coast of Mindanao Island, coming within approximately 15.2 nautical miles of Cape Talalum, and proceeded southward along the southern coastline of the Philippines.
Over the following two days, the group traversed the Basilan Strait—a passage only 3.5 nautical miles wide—moving from the Sulu Sea into the Celebes Sea. On the morning of the 23rd, it passed through international waters southeast of Balut Island before turning northeast into the Philippine Sea. Throughout the journey, the formation did not activate its AIS (Automatic Identification System), and no response was received to radio inquiries sent by the Zamboanga monitoring station in the Philippines.
More than ten J-15T carrier-based fighter jets were stationed on the flight deck, with a Z-8 search-and-rescue helicopter on standby at the bow—indicating a standard state of combat readiness. Including the initial entry into the Sulu Sea, the group has now passed through three maritime passages between the Philippine archipelago within just a few days, effectively completing a near-clockwise circumnavigation of the country. On the 24th, Philippine media cited military sources confirming that the Liaoning had rendezvoused with the Type 901 replenishment ship Hulun Lake and the Type 052D destroyer Qiqihar.
Notably, the scene on the ground was unusually quiet. There were no visible images of Philippine naval vessels conducting close tracking; instead, all available footage came from fishermen and civilians. Mainstream Philippine media maintained a notably subdued tone, with minimal coverage. Just one day earlier, Philippine Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana had publicly threatened to designate the Chinese ambassador as persona non grata—yet his government remained conspicuously silent during this operation.
This route differs significantly from previous deployments. Typically, when the Liaoning departs for open-ocean training, it proceeds via the East China Sea and the Miyako Strait into the Philippine Sea—a path long monitored by Japan’s Self-Defense Forces, who routinely issue notifications upon detection. This time, however, the fleet took a southern route through the South China Sea and across the Sulu Sea, bypassing the Miyako Strait. The primary reason was weather: oceanic training requires favorable meteorological conditions, and choosing the southern passage allowed the group to avoid severe storms and high waves associated with typhoon activity.
While timing the deployment around the typhoon is significant, it is not the sole factor. Around the same period, the Philippines intensified its rhetoric on the South China Sea dispute, threatening to declare the Chinese ambassador persona non grata. After a brief statement from the Chinese embassy, the Liaoning group moved directly along the southern coast of the Philippines, navigating international straits—a clear demonstration of capability without overt confrontation.
The J-15T fighters possess strong performance characteristics and can be equipped with long-range missiles, enabling the Liaoning to launch a substantial strike package in a single sortie. The disparity in maritime and aerial power between the two sides is evident. However, it should be emphasized that the group transited only international waterways. Even the Basilan Strait, which the Philippines acknowledges as an international passage, was used—this was not a provocation, but a factual demonstration of operational capacity.
Meanwhile, another formation is active in Philippine waters, composed of an amphibious assault ship and training vessels joined by a supply ship, reconstituting a dual-core structure centered on the carrier and amphibious platform. Last year, the Liaoning group had previously conducted operations near Guam. With Typhoon Yinxing having dissipated, the next phase of this group’s movement is likely to target the Guam region once again.
Earlier in October 2024, the Liaoning had already passed through the southern waters of the Philippines. In just two years, the operation has evolved from a single transit to a full-circle patrol around the island. This shift is not due to more aggressive routing, but rather reflects a growing normalization of strategic capability. As typhoons continue to gather strength over the Pacific, video footage captured by ordinary citizens along the coast already conveys much. Some messages require no reply in radio traffic—the presence of warships passing through speaks for itself.
Original source: toutiao.com/article/1880265496569860/
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the author alone.