China has decided to take advantage of the USS Theodore Roosevelt being crippled by the growing coronavirus by sending fighter gets and an aircraft carrier close to the much disputed territory of Taiwan.
The Defense Ministry of Taiwan said that the Liaoning (China's very first aircraft carrier) and five other accompanying warships have just passed through the Miyako Strait which is located between Japan's islands Miyako as well as Okinawa, to the stretches of northeastern Taiwan on Saturday.
The growing danger of the situation
The USS Roosevelt along with the USS Roland Reagan are the only two existing US carriers located in the Pacific but have recently been forced to dock due to the coronavirus. While the US vessel ports, the Liaoning is currently the only active aircraft carrier in the western Pacific carrying 24 j-15 fighter jets!
On Sunday, the Liaoning's carrier group (which included an arsenal of two missile destroyers and two missile frigates along with a supply ship) sailed to Taiwan's east coast then into the south of Taiwan itself!
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On Monday, the US Air Force and Navy have put on a show of strength in response to China with a runway formation of a dozen B-52 bombers along with other aircrafts.
Taiwan has said that they are monitoring the carrier group's progress and have completed necessary actions to ensure national security as well as protecting regional peace and stability. China's Defense Minister has not yet given a response.
The existing tension
Taiwan and China have an existing dispute over Taiwan's legal status as the Chinese government still consider Taiwan as part of its territory while Taiwan claims themselves a separate nation. The USS Roosevelt is currently docked in Guam and has already reported its first death of the coronavirus.
About 600 other sailors have tested positive for COVID-19 as 92% of the crew have been tested. Officials have said that the USS Raegan is now currently docked in Yokosuka, Japan, for maintenance.
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UDD Carl Vinson is currently docked at the Puget Sound naval base in Washington for maintenance as well while a sailor was also diagnosed with the bug.
USS Nimitz has recently become the fourth US aircraft carrier to report another coronavirus case.
Aside from the Liaoning, China also has its recently built Shandong which is rumored to have cost $9 billion and is stationed at the Hainan Island.
The United States' arsenal
The United States currently has 11 aircraft carriers but two of them are currently in the Middle East while five of them are in US ports undergoing long-term services as well as overhauls.
Taiwan has been complaining about the increase of Chinese military around their area in the past few weeks and have even told China to focus more on the coronavirus instead of menacing the island. The US military has also been active around Taiwanese waters recently.
On Friday, a US Navy guided missile destroyer sailed right through the Taiwan Strait. This is the exact same day that the Chinese fighter jets drilled in water close to the island.
