The US Navy has deployed its two nuclear-powered aircraft carriers — USS Nimitz and USS Ronald Reagan — to conduct exercises in the South China Sea, piling pressure on an ambitious Beijing that has opened multiple fronts, including one with India along the Line of Actual Control in Ladakh.
China carried out military drills that have been criticised by the Pentagon and neighbouring States.
China and the United States have accused each other of stoking tension in the strategic waterway at a time of strained relations over everything from the new coronavirus to trade to Hong Kong. The USS Nimitz and USS Ronald Reagan were carrying out operations and exercises in the South China Sea “to support a free and open Indo-Pacific,” the Navy said in a statement.