BEIJING, Nov. 27 (UPI) -- China announced its sole aircraft carrier, the Liaoning, sailed to the South China Sea on its first cross-sea training voyage.
The China Daily said the mission would include the testing of the carrier's technical and crew capabilities.
The Global Times reported the sea trials would also be a critical step to strengthen its combat capability.
The newspapers said the Liaoning's voyage comes amid rising tensions between China and Japan over the Diaoyu Islands in the East China Sea and lingering territorial disputes in the South China Sea. It also follows China's recent establishment of an Air Defense Identification Zone over the East China Sea, a step that has drawn strong reaction from the United States and Japan.
China and Japan are locked in a bitter maritime dispute over the East China Sea islands, which Japan controls and calls them the Senkaku Islands.
A Chinese military expert told the China Daily the carrier's voyage is also aimed at testing it in open sea with large waves and fewer civilian ships.
The carrier, commissioned into the Chinese navy last year, left its home port Qingdao in Shandong province Tuesday morning, escorted by two missile destroyers, the Shenyang and Shijiazhuang, and two missile frigates, the Yantai and Weifang.
The report said there were several possible courses for the carrier to take, but that it was not clear which one the Liaoning would take.
China Daily quoted Japan's Jiji News Agency that the vessel may sail close to the Senkaku Islands or the Miyako Islands in Okinawa.
However, Maj. Gen. Yin Zhuo, director of the Chinese Navy Information Expert Committee, said the voyage had been planned for a long time.
Yin said the voyage may last several weeks to up to two months in heavy seas.
"We also need to see the carrier's fighters take off and land in various types of wind and waves for testing and training," he said.
The Global Times said military authorities did not specify what drills the Liaoning would conduct.
