US carrier sails in disputed sea as China displays force

Plans afoot: Rear Admiral Steve Koehler (facing camera), commander CSG-9 of the ‘USS Theodore Roosevelt’, briefing top Philippine generals in international waters off South China Sea. — AP

ABOARD THE USS THEODORE ROOSEVELT (South China Sea): As fighter jets streaked overhead, a US aircraft carrier sailed through the South China Sea in the latest display of America’s military might after China built a string of islands with military facilities to assert its claims in the strategic waters, sparking regional alarm.

The US Navy flew a small group of Philippine generals, officials and journalists to the USS Theodore Roosevelt, where fighter jets landed and took off by catapult with thunderous blasts.