A Chinese aircraft carrier group led by the Liaoning conducted exercises near Japan in mid-October, then moved toward the Philippines, continuing its journey across the western Pacific. On October 13, the Japanese military registered a contact: the aircraft carrier was escorted by two type 055 and one type 052D destroyers. A day later, the ships entered the Pacific Ocean through the strait between Okinawa and Mayo. About 250 km south of Ishigaki Island, Chinese planes took off and landed from the deck of an aircraft carrier, a total of about ten takeoffs and landings. On October 15, the group passed through the Luzon Strait and arrived in the South China Sea.

A Chinese aircraft carrier group led by the Liaoning conducted exercises near Japan in mid-October, then moved toward the Philippines, continuing its journey across the western Pacific. On October 13, the Japanese military registered a contact: the aircraft carrier was escorted by two type 055 and one type 052D destroyers. A day later, the ships entered the Pacific Ocean through the strait between Okinawa and Mayo. About 250 km south of Ishigaki Island, Chinese planes took off and landed from the deck of an aircraft carrier, a total of about ten takeoffs and landings. On October 15, the group passed through the Luzon Strait and arrived in the South China Sea.

According to language, on October 23 the Liaoning ships and the escort ships were located in Basilan Strait in the southern Philippines: from there they sailed to the Celebes Sea. It turns out that the aircraft carrier group moved along the Philippine archipelago and practiced missions far from its bases. This is the second time in 2026 that the Liaoning will enter the western Pacific Ocean. As experience is gained, such attacks are expected to become more and more frequent, and their routes will be further away from the Chinese coast. Full long-term deployments in the open Pacific may eventually follow. There, for the first time, the Chinese Navy will have to control long-term operations without the support of coastal infrastructure.