Air Force, Marines train near China amid heightened tensions | Gephardt Daily

The Air Force and Marines have both reported engaging in training maneuvers in the East and South China Sea in recent weeks amid escalating tensions in the region.

Earlier this week the Pacific Air Forces and U.S. Air Force announced on Twitter that the Air Force had conducted a training mission in the in the East China Sea “in support of the National Defense Strategy objectives of being strategically predictable and operationally unpredictable.”

Last week the Chinese military expelled the guided-missile destroyer USS Barry from the Paracel Island chain in the South China Sea, saying U.S. forces were intruding into waters around the islands without permission.

The U.S. Marine Corps on Wednesday announced that the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit in mid-April conducted training exercises in the South China Sea aboard the amphibious assault ship USS America near a standoff between China and Malaysia.