Japan this week confirmed that two Chinese aircraft carriers have operated together for the first time in the Pacific, fueling Tokyo's concern about Beijing's rapidly expanding military activity far beyond its borders.
Aircraft carriers are critical to projecting power at a distance. China routinely sends coast guard vessels, warships and warplanes to areas around the disputed East China Sea islands, but now it is going as far as what's called the second-island chain that includes Guam — a U.S. territory. A single Chinese carrier has ventured into the Pacific in the past, but never east of that chain until now.
