CHINA’S first aircraft carrier has set off for the Western Pacific for an open-sea training exercise, according to the Defense Ministry.
It is the first time the Liaoning, which was commissioned by the Chinese navy in 2012, has headed to “distant sea waters.”
The ministry said a navy formation including the Liaoning set off on Saturday for training in the Western Pacific, without elaborating on the location, as part of an annual training plan.
China said last month that its aircraft carrier, bought as an incomplete hull from Ukraine more than a decade ago, was ready to engage in combat.
The Liaoning recently completed its first live-fire exercise along with fighters in the Bohai Sea in eastern China and, on Friday, the military announced it had carried out a series of fighter launch, recovery and air combat exercises slightly farther afield in the Yellow Sea.
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