The USS Ronald Reagan carrier and USS Abraham Lincoln carrier strike groups, the USS America expeditionary strike group, and the amphibious assault ship USS Tripoli operate around the Philippine Sea to Japan to Western Pacific, according to the latest fleet tracking report by USNI News. 

China’s Tencent News reports the US Navy’s increasing show of force “means that the US military will conduct more military operations in the waters surrounding our country in the next few weeks.” 

The arrival of warships in the region comes as the USS Port Royal, a Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser, was followed by China’s Eastern Theater Command while sailing through the Taiwan Strait on May 10. 

China’s military said Wednesday that it issued a formal warning to a US warship that passed through the Taiwan Strait soon after large-scale Chinese PLA military drills wound down in waters surrounding Taiwan.

The US Navy’s 7th Fleet confirmed the guided-missile cruiser USS Port Royal sailed through the contested strait on Tuesday in a “routine” transit and in “accordance with international law”. But China suggested the US is intent on staging “drama” to provoke “trouble” in connection with its military exercises – according to its statement.

After closely monitoring the US vessel, the Chinese command said it “warned” it away while stating that its troops “maintain high alert at all times, resolutely counteract all threats and provocations, and resolutely defend national sovereignty and territorial integrity.”

The US in 2021 sent a navy ship through the strait roughly on a monthly basis, which Beijing each time shadowed and protested – a pattern which has continued thus far in 2022.

But this fresh Tuesday sail-through is perhaps being perceived by Beijing as very intentional timing on the part of Washington, given PLA forces just wrapped up a major drill in surrounding Taiwan waters. A Chinese military analyst has been quoted in international publications as calling it a “rehearsal of possible real action.”

Earlier this month, the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) held a war exercise surrounding the island of Taiwan. PLA’s combat preparedness has concerned top US intelligence officials about mounting risks Beijing is preparing to invade Taiwan. 

​”It’s our view that they [the Chinese] are working hard to effectively put themselves into a position in which their military is capable of taking Taiwan over,” Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines told lawmakers on the Senate Armed Services Committee last week. 

In the last few months, Beijing has taken notes about lessons from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and how Western powers have reacted. 

Chinese President Xi Jinping views Taiwan as part of its territory under the “one China” policy. Beijing has become increasingly irritated at Western powers for arming Taipei.