Toward Decline
Chinese Carrier Liaoning Near Philippines, USS George Washington Leaves Yokosuka Ahead of Spring Patrol - USNI News
Why it matters
Chinese carrier activity near the Philippines and concurrent US carrier deployment demonstrate intensifying great-power competition in waters critical to Australian trade and security, directly affecting the credibility of US extended deterrence in the Indo-Pacific. This pattern of Chinese power projection toward Taiwan and increased US naval operations raises both the salience of the US alliance and the risk of kinetic escalation in Australia's strategic neighborhood.
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