New Delhi. 05 July 2020. The Ronald Reagan Carrier Strike Group is the US Navy’s only forward-deployed strike group and one of America’s most visible symbols of resolve. The Nimitz Carrier Strike Group arrived in the U.S. 7th Fleet area of operations on June 17, and has been conducting dual carrier operations with both the Ronald Reagan and Theodore Roosevelt aircraft carriers. With Carrier Air Wings 17 and 5, as well as accompanying surface forces, Nimitz and Reagan form the most effective and agile fighting force in the world, supporting U.S. commitment to mutual defense agreements with regional allies and partners, and promoting peace and prosperity throughout the Indo-Pacific.
The US in an official statement pre –exercise by China said that Department of Defense is concerned about the People’s Republic of China (PRC) decision to conduct military exercises around the Paracel Islands in the South China Sea on July 1-5.
The release added, “the designated area where the exercises are due to take place encompass contested waters and territory. Conducting military exercises over disputed territory in the South China Sea is counterproductive to efforts at easing tensions and maintaining stability. The PRC’s actions will further destabilize the situation in the South China Sea. Such exercises also violate PRC commitments under the 2002 Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea to avoid activities that would complicate or escalate disputes and affect peace and stability. The military exercises are the latest in a long string of PRC actions to assert unlawful maritime claims and disadvantage its Southeast Asian neighbors in the South China Sea. The PRC’s actions stand in contrast to its pledge to not militarize the South China Sea and the United States’ vision of a free and open Indo-Pacific region, in which all nations, large and small, are secure in their sovereignty, free from coercion, and able to pursue economic growth consistent with accepted international rules and norms.The Department of Defense will continue to monitor the situation with the expectation that the PRC will reduce its militarization and coercion of its neighbors in the South China Sea. We urge all parties to exercise restraint and not undertake military activities that might aggravate disputes in the South China Sea.”
China in an official MOFA press conference said, “Xisha Islands are indisputably China’s inherent territory. China’s military exercises in the seas off Xisha Islands are within our sovereignty and beyond reproach. The fundamental cause of instability in the South China Sea is the large-scale military activities and flexing of muscles by some non-regional country that lies tens of thousands of miles away.”
The Paracels are the subject of overlapping claims between China, which calls them the Xisha Islands, and Vietnam, where they are known as the Hoang Sa Islands.
