China dispatches Warships towards Japan and Taiwan as US Navy struggles with coronavirus

It seems the Chinese Navy do not rest nor let rest their east neighbours: The Liaoning Aircraft Carrier and its strike force (two guided missile destroyers, two multi-role warships and one supply-class fast combat support ship) passed 262 miles southwest of Nagasaki’s Danjo Islands about 7 p.m. on Friday 10th, then through the 155-mile-wide strait halfway between the Japanese islands of Okinawa and Miyako on Saturday 11th, then turned south and finally passed east of Taiwan on Sunday 12th the Miyako Strait, according Japanese officials talking under the condition of anonymity, and according the South China Morning Post, which cited the Taiwan Ministry of Defense, and the Japanese Sankei News, which also cited the Taiwan Defense Ministry.

Meanwhile, the Aircraft Carrier USS Reagan, undergoing maintenance at its homeport of Yokosuka Naval Base since November, is preparing for deployment and more than 1.000 sailors assigned to the Reagan and its strike force have been bussed to Yokota Air Base and Naval Air Facility Atsugi over four days last week to sequester themselves prior to deployment, according to the Task Force 70 post: “Once 14 days are complete, every sailor will provide a nasal swab sample that will be processed and returned. This process will take an additional 2-3 days before our COVID-free team embarks on Reagan,” according to the post, referring to the disease caused by the virus.

Currently, the Liaoning is the only aircraft carrier present in the Western Pacific; however, the USS America, a smaller amphibious assault ship that carries F-35B Lightning II stealth fighters, is underway in the East China Sea, as the USS Roosevelt is sidelined in Guam, where much of its crew are undergoing isolation to stem a coronavirus outbreak. The ship meanwhile is being sanitized before it can return to sea. 

China may obtain S-400

Chinese military commentators said China may become the first foreign buyer of Russia's S-400 surface-to-air missile system, which could help the country integrate its air defense and anti-missile systems, reports Chinese national broadcaster CCTV.

Negotiations between China and Russia over the system have been difficult since China has different needs for its air defense, said military commentator Du Wenlong. The system's operational height and range, the range of its radar and the number of targets the radar tracks will all need to be adjusted. Du said the sale will not be simple weapons trade but a technology transfer that could enhance China's air defense and anti-missile capability as a whole in the future.

America's Asia Pivot policy would be severely impacted if China obtains the S-400 system, as it could cover the airspace over Taiwan and or even its eastern coasts and counter-attack US aircrafts coming from Guam and Okinawa: The system comes with powerful radar and has anti-jamming capabilities, becoming able to create a multi-layer air defense structure with three guided missiles of different ranges as well as tracking hundreds of targets and attacking up to 36 of them at once. "The S400 could affect regional security if China buys the system and decides to plant it within range of the disputed Diaoyutai island", said Paul Schwartz, a researcher for the Center for Strategic & International Studies' Russian and Eurasia Program.

Unlike the system's predecessor S-300, S-400 is compatible with weapons made by other countries and sports superior performance. The system can hit a target 10 m to 60 km above ground and intercept a ballistic missile from 30 km away. Its life span has also greatly improved to 20 years. With the S-400 system and the existing surface-to-air guided missiles Hongqi-9, S-300 and the advanced version of S-300, China will be able to build an air defense system covering long, medium and short distances, said Du. The country will also be able to integrate the system with anti- guided-missile systems. The chance of intercepting high-precision guided weapons such as guided missiles is likely to increase significantly in the future, also expanding the types of targets that China could intercept, said the commentator.