China’s Liaoning carrier heads to the Pacific as US, Japan prepare for missile drills

Beijing’s Liaoning aircraft carrier on Wednesday started its second training in the western Pacific this year, with the drill likely to coincide with an expanded US-Japan military exercise that may have implications for a Taiwan contingency.

The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy was organising the drill for the Liaoning formation in “relevant waters” of the western Pacific Ocean as part of its annual training plan, China’s defence ministry said in a statement on Wednesday.

While it did not...