Warning to Biden: China’s Bombers Simulate Attack on American Aircraft Carrier Near Taiwan - Reports

Amid high tensions between the U.S. and China, and following the dispatch of the first U.S. carrier group under the Joe Biden administration to sail near Chinese claimed waters, China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) reportedly dispatched H-6 bombers with escorts to simulate attacks on the American targets. Taiwan has been a leading potential hotpot for tensions between the two powers, and although recognised by the United Nations and all member states as a part of China the growing presence of U.S. forces on the territory has been cause for considerable concern in Beijing. The report of simulated strikes by Chinese aircraft came from the Financial Times and cited unnamed intelligence sources. It claimed that these took place over two days from January 23rd and on the second day involved over dozen aircraft. The carrier strike group entered the South China Sea, and was led by nuclear powered the Nimitz Class supercarrier USS Theodore Roosevelt which has served in the U.S. Navy since 1986. 

China’s PLA Navy and Air Force have equipped H-6 bombers with a range of advanced anti ship weapons designed specifically to penetrate the defences of American carrier strike groups, including not only YJ-12 cruise missiles but also an unnamed new class of hypersonic anti ship ballistic missile. The YJ-12’s sea skimming trajectory and high Mach 4 speed make it very difficult to intercept, and the latest H-6 variants can carry up to a dozen of these missiles. It remains uncertain whether the bombers were flying under the Navy or the Air Force, and what fighters formed their escorts with Su-35 and J-11B long range jets having been used for escort missions in the past. This show of force sends a strong signal to the new Joe Biden administration regarding Beijing’s position on U.S. interference in Taiwan, with the previous Donald Trump administration having approve over $10 billion major arms contracts to the territory’s government. Taiwan’s government is not recognised by the United Nations or the vast majority of member states, and arms sales to it have been equated with arming a non state actor.