Major Japanese news agency Kyodo recently reported in its Chinese edition that the U.S. nuclear aircraft carrier USS John Stennis and its battle group fleet started its mission in the South China Sea. A large number of Chinese warships gathered to monitor them. Chinese media referenced this report rather widely. The report said, according to the U.S. Department of Defense and the U.S. Navy Seventh Fleet, that the aircraft carrier battle group started its “routine exercises in the Western Pacific region.” Aircraft from the carrier had been sent out for certain tasks. This aircraft carrier mission was widely considered to be a response to China’s missile and radar deployments in the same region. USS Stennis Captain Hoffman told the reporter that he “had never seen that many Chinese warships gathered together.”
Source: Kyodo Chinese, March 5, 2016
https://china.kyodonews.jp/news/2016/03/115983.html