China’s Liaoning aircraft carrier began its second western Pacific training series of the year on Wednesday, as the US and Japan prepared a larger joint exercise that will bring new missile systems to Yonaguni Island near Taiwan. China’s defence ministry said on 14 October 2026 that the carrier group was operating in “relevant waters” under the navy’s annual training plan.
The ministry said the exercise would “test and improve the troops' combat-oriented training level”. It said the deployment followed international law and practice and was directed at no particular country or objective.
The duration of this latest Liaoning exercise has not been announced. Its first western Pacific training session this year ran for 35 days from May to June.
Keen Sword 27 is scheduled to run from 19 to 29 October across Japan and its surrounding waters, including the country’s southwestern island chain near Taiwan. The exercise is set to involve about 45,000 Japanese personnel, 6,100 vehicles, 40 ships and 260 aircraft.
About 12,000 US troops are reportedly expected to take part. The planned Japanese deployment is larger than the 2024 exercise, which involved about 33,000 personnel, 30 ships and 250 aircraft.
For the first time, the US will send the Navy-Marine Expeditionary Ship Interdiction System, known as NMESIS, an anti-ship missile platform, to Yonaguni Island. The island lies just over 100 kilometers from Taiwan.
The US will also deploy the Marine Air Defence Integrated System, or MADIS, to Yonaguni for the first time. Japan will temporarily place Type 88 surface-to-ship missiles and Type 03 medium-range air-defence systems there alongside the US systems.
China has also announced military activity, including live-fire shooting, from 12 to 17 October across five zones covering the Bohai Sea, Yellow Sea, East China Sea and South China Sea.
The carrier’s latest deployment follows a period in which military operations around Taiwan have repeatedly coincided with political statements from Taipei. Taiwan’s President Lai Ching-te said in a National Day address on 10 October that “China continues to exert pressure by attempting to alter the status quo in the Taiwan Strait through military and gray-zone activities” and declared: “We will not accept subjugation.”
In May 2024, three days after Lai’s inauguration, China began the “Joint Sword 2024A” exercise, mobilising land, naval, air and rocket forces to encircle Taiwan.
After Lai’s October 2024 National Day speech, which emphasised independence, China sent the Liaoning out for “Joint Sword 2024B” and held live-fire drills off Fujian.
During the Liaoning’s earlier western Pacific deployment, Japanese announcements said its strike group operated in waters east of Luzon Island in the Philippines. Carrier-based fighters and helicopters took off and landed about 170 times from 26 to 28 May.
The Chinese Navy said Japanese vessels and military aircraft repeatedly tracked, monitored and provoked its forces at close range during that period.
In December, Liaoning training east of the Miyako Strait led to a stand-off between Chinese warplanes and Japanese fighter jets.
Song Zhongping, a Chinese military commentator, said: “The drills signal Beijing's readiness for multi-nation interventions in defense of Taiwan.”
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