China vs. US in the South China Sea

The Chinese Peoples’ Liberation Army (PLA) Navy plans to move its Shandong aircraft carrier group to the South China Sea to confront the US Navy which has recently moved warships and heavy bombers to the Pacific port of Guam.

A PLA naval exercise during April 2020 involving the training aircraft carrier, Liaoning, J-15 warplanes, other warships and submarines was intended to prepare for a larger deployment in a possible face-off with the US Navy.

The Chinese muscle-flexing in the South China Sea is being countered by the United States whose Navy roams the South China Sea claiming ‘freedom of Navigation rights.’ This is in direct confrontation with the Chinese Navy which claims the entire South China Sea as its own.