Global Times – The Chinese PLA Navy sent the Liaoning carrier task group to the Western Pacific on Wednesday for training. This is the Liaoning’s second far-sea training deployment to the Western Pacific this year, which also marks the 10th anniversary of its first such deployment in late December 2016, after the carrier entered service. 

Military experts told the Global Times that the Liaoning’s decade of far-sea operations tells the story of its transformation from a “coastal pathfinder” to a “far-sea blade,” and mirrors the Chinese Navy’s strategic shift from near-sea defense to far-sea defense.