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U.S. carrier in Pacific to deter China as Taiwanese vote: Scholars

ROC Central News Agency

01/13/2024 07:29 PM

Taipei, Jan. 13 (CNA) The current deployment of a United States aircraft carrier, the USS Carl Vinson, east of Taiwan is meant to serve as a deterrent to China during Taiwan's election period, when voters are picking a new president, two defense scholars said Saturday.

Shen Ming-shih (沈明室) and Su Tzu-yun (蘇紫雲), research fellows at Taiwan's Institute for National Defense and Security Research (INDSR), told CNA that the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier's deployment near Taiwan was a "strategic precaution" in case the Chinese military decided to make a move following Saturday's presidential and legislative elections.

As of Jan. 11, the USS Carl Vinson was in the Pacific Ocean east of Taiwan, after departing the Philippines, according to information released by the South China Sea Strategic Situation Probing Initiative (SCSPI), a Beijing-based defense think tank.

The vessel, which is the flagship of the American Carrier Strike Group 1, had made a port call in the Philippines on Jan.5 to highlight the significance of the U.S.-Philippine Alliance and the U.S.' broader commitment to the Indo-Pacific region, according to U.S. Naval Institute News.

Asked to comment on the carrier's deployment, Shen told CNA Saturday that by moving the USS Carl Vinson nearer to Taiwan, the U.S. will be able to closely monitor every move of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) of China and made a timely response, if necessary.

Expressing a similar view, Su said the USS Ronald Reagan , another Nimitz-class, nuclear-powered supercarrier and flagship of Carrier Strike Group 5, was also currently in the Pacific region, in Japan's Yokosuka Port.

That means there are two U.S. carriers currently deployed in the region, north and west of the Taiwan Strait, indicating that the U.S. is standing by to deter the PLA on both fronts, if necessary, Su said.

Another Taiwanese defense scholar, Lin Ying-yu (林穎佑), told CNA that the USS Carl Vinson's deployment in the Pacific was meant not only to monitor the PLA's movements near the Taiwan Strait but also to keep a close eye on North Korea, which recently launched a number of missiles near South Korea and Japan.

The deployment of the carrier is aimed at contributing to stability in the wider Indo-Pacific region, not only in the Taiwan Strait, said Lin, who is an assistant professor at Tamkang University's Graduate Institute of International Affairs and Strategic Studies.

(By Matt Yu and Joseph Yeh)

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