Nato is bolstering its presence in the Western Pacific by sending warships to more places, a move that risks stoking tensions with China, which is worried about the alliance’s growing influence in the region.
The latest entrant is the Italian aircraft carrier Cavour, the first time Rome has deployed its lone carrier to the Pacific.
The Cavour and an Italian frigate recently held exercises with the US carrier USS Abraham Lincoln near the island of Guam. A day later, F-35 stealth jets and AV-8B Harriers launched from the Cavour practised shooting down airborne targets. […]
“This is a demonstration, above all, of our ability to project power anywhere,” said Rear-Admiral Giancarlo Ciappina, commander of the Cavour carrier strike group.
Few security analysts expect European navies to play a frontline role in any conflict in the Pacific.
But the rising frequency of their presence is complicating China’s calculus as it raises the tempo of its military activity, including fighter and bomber flights near Taiwan and confrontations with the Philippines in the South China Sea. Läs artikel