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China Deploys Carrier Strike Group in Response to US Missile Deployment in Philippines.
According to the Philippine Navy and Japan’s Ministry of Defense, China has deployed a naval task force led by its aircraft carrier CNS Shandong (CV-17) to the western Pacific, off the northern coast of the Philippines. This development comes in direct response to the launch of the largest joint US-Philippine military exercise to date—Balikatan 2025—which began on April 21 and involves 17,000 troops in a scenario simulating open conflict with China. The deployment of China’s carrier strike group underscores the intensifying military, technological, and geopolitical rivalry between the United States and China, with far-reaching consequences for regional security and global strategic stability.
Leading the formation is the CNS Shandong, China’s first domestically built aircraft carrier, commissioned in 2019. (Picture source: Philippine Navy)
The Chinese naval group includes several key surface combatants and support vessels. Leading the formation is the CNS Shandong, China’s first domestically built aircraft carrier, commissioned in 2019. The vessel displaces approximately 70,000 tons and carries J-15 multirole fighter jets, Z-18 helicopters, and airborne early warning aircraft. The Shandong has been conducting flight operations east of Luzon, demonstrating its capacity to launch sustained carrier-based air missions far beyond China’s territorial waters.
Escorting the Shandong is the CNS Yan’an (hull number 106), a Type 055 guided-missile destroyer. As one of the most advanced surface combatants in the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN), the Yan’an is equipped with a powerful radar suite and a vertical launch system capable of firing surface-to-air missiles, anti-ship missiles, and cruise missiles. This destroyer provides area air defense and command-and-control capabilities for the task force, acting as a key node in Chinese naval operations.
Also accompanying the group is the CNS Tianguanxing (AGI-797), a Type 815A electronic surveillance ship. This vessel is outfitted with extensive electronic intelligence (ELINT) and signals intelligence (SIGINT) systems used to monitor regional communications, radar emissions, and maritime activity. The Tianguanxing plays a critical role in the PLAN's information warfare strategy, enhancing situational awareness and supporting joint operations through real-time data collection and dissemination.
The deployment occurred after US forces positioned Navy-Marine Expeditionary Ship Interdiction System (NMESIS) launchers on the Philippine Batanes Islands—strategically located in the Bashi Channel between Taiwan and Luzon. NMESIS is a remotely operated missile platform that launches Naval Strike Missiles (NSM), with a range of over 100 nautical miles, capable of targeting warships across the channel, including approaches to southern Taiwan. This marks the closest US land-based missile deployment to mainland China since the Second Taiwan Strait Crisis in 1958.
Beijing views these deployments as an attempt to sever its critical maritime access routes from the South China Sea to the Pacific, which are essential for energy supplies and the movement of its nuclear submarine fleet based in Hainan. In this context, the Shandong's transit through the Luzon Strait and operations within the Philippine Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) are designed to assert freedom of navigation, deter containment efforts, and reaffirm China’s regional presence.
The CNS Tianguanxing (AGI-797), a Type 815A electronic surveillance ship (Picture source: Philippine Navy)
The South China Sea, already marked by overlapping territorial claims and military build-ups, remains a flashpoint. China continues to militarize artificial islands with airstrips, missile batteries, and surveillance systems, asserting control over areas contested by Vietnam, the Philippines, and Malaysia. The US routinely conducts freedom of navigation operations (FONOPs) to challenge Chinese claims, leading to frequent confrontations at sea.
Concurrently, Chinese military aircraft regularly enter Taiwan’s and Japan’s Air Defense Identification Zones (ADIZs). Taiwan recorded over 1,700 PLA aircraft incursions in 2024 alone. These maneuvers, combined with the expansion of China’s blue-water navy, the development of hypersonic weapons, and offensive cyber and space capabilities, have alarmed regional defense establishments and prompted a shift in allied posture.
The Biden administration has responded by reinforcing regional alliances, expanding defense ties through frameworks such as AUKUS (Australia, UK, US), the QUAD (India, Japan, Australia, US), and bilateral agreements with the Philippines, South Korea, and Papua New Guinea. These moves aim to present a credible deterrent against any Chinese military action, particularly in scenarios involving Taiwan.
The Balikatan 2025 drills are a clear illustration of this strategy. For the first time, Japan has joined with warships and personnel under a Reciprocal Access Agreement signed in 2023. The exercises include missile defense simulations, amphibious assaults, and live-fire exercises, including the sinking of a decommissioned vessel south of Taiwan. The US also deployed its new MADIS (Marine Air Defense Integrated System), tested outside the US for the first time, targeting drones in coastal scenarios. These capabilities complement recent arms deliveries to the Philippines, including BrahMos supersonic missiles from India and F-16 fighter jets from the US.
This naval standoff is but one element in a broader systemic competition between Washington and Beijing that also encompasses economic and technological spheres. Sanctions on semiconductors, export controls on rare earths, scrutiny of Chinese tech firms, and growing bifurcation in global regulatory frameworks all contribute to a comprehensive decoupling dynamic.
The deployment of China’s carrier strike group—featuring the Shandong, Yan’an, and Tianguanxing—near the Philippines represents a calibrated show of force within a contested maritime corridor. It reflects China’s intent to defend its perceived strategic interests amid growing encirclement by US-aligned forces. As both powers reinforce their positions across the western Pacific, the risk of confrontation continues to grow, in a region that has become the epicenter of 21st-century geopolitical competition.