November 23, 2024

3 U.S. Aircraft Carriers to Be in Asia During Presidential Transition

Featuring: Jacob Stokes

Source: Nikkei Asia

Journalist: Ken Moriyasu

Three U.S. aircraft carriers will be in Asia by next week after months of absence amid concerns of Chinese activity in the lead up to the inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump.

The USS George Washington, with a crew of 2,702, arrived on Friday in Yokosuka, Japan, home to the U.S. Navy’s 7th Fleet, returning to the port for the first time in nine years. The USS Carl Vinson was deployed to the Pacific on Monday.
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Jacob Stokes, deputy director of the Indo-Pacific Security Program at Center for a New American Security, said, “China is going to try and test the Trump administration early, probably around Taiwan or the South China Sea, or both.”

The test, Stokes said, will attempt to determine which of the two sides of Trump Beijing will be dealing with.

“They’ve seen transactional Trump, that wants to make a deal. Or are they going to get confrontational Trump, which is the way they would characterize his policies from mid to late 2018 on through COVID.”

Read the full article and more on NIKKEI Asia.

Author

  • Jacob Stokes

    Senior Fellow and Deputy Director, Indo-Pacific Security Program

    Jacob Stokes is a Senior Fellow and Deputy Director of the Indo-Pacific Security Program at CNAS, where his work focuses on U.S.-China relations, Chinese foreign and military ...