Balikatan: China Sends Carrier Strike Group as First Island Chain Deploys Missiles | EP821

China is responding to the Philippines’ largest-ever Balikatan exercises with military drills of its own, stretching from the South China Sea to waters east of Luzon and into the Western Pacific. Featuring the Liaoning carrier strike group and coordinated naval transits near Japan’s southern islands, Beijing’s actions are being framed as “counter-deterrence.” But are these moves simply signaling — or rehearsals for conflict? As US, Philippine and Japanese forces deepen cooperation along the First Island Chain, China appears to be testing its ability to project power and challenge this alliance. In this episode, we examine the scale and intent of China’s response, the growing “missile arc” strategy and what this evolving dynamic means for Taiwan and the Indo-Pacific.

*Recorded on April 28, 2026 at 2:30pm Taiwan Standard Time

Host/Senior Producer: Yin Khvat
Consultant: Max Yu
Research Assistant: Ryan Pham

Our guests:

Alexander Huang
- Council on Strategic and Wargaming Studies Chair
Jason Hsu
- Hudson Institute Senior Fellow
Guermantes Lailari
- Jewish Policy Center Senior Non-Resident Fellow

Chapters:
00:00:00 - China Conducts Drills During Balikatan
00:01:16 - Allies Build Missile Arc
00:07:10 - Beijing Sails Between Japan Islands
00:20:44 - China Hints of New Carrier




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