Concerns are being raised in the US media that a security void in the Pacific is becoming a reality as the US Navy aircraft carrier previously deployed to the Pacific has moved to the Middle East.

While the possibility of an immediate armed conflict is low, experts point out that as China moves to expand its influence in the Pacific, regional allies will inevitably grow more doubtful of US security commitments.

According to the US military-focused media outlet The War Zone on the 18th local time, the US Navy USS George Washington Carrier Strike Group (CSG), which had been deployed in the Pacific, passed through the Singapore Strait on the 13th and is heading toward the Middle East.

This deployment is to relieve the USS Abraham Lincoln, an aircraft carrier that has been on maritime duty for nine months, during which time a crew member even attempted to jump overboard.

Consequently, an aircraft carrier, which serves as the symbol of US naval power, has disappeared from the Pacific, the arena of the US-China hegemony competition.

This is not the first time a US aircraft carrier has been absent from the Pacific.

In August 2024 as well, heightened tensions in the Middle East resulted in the US going without an operational, combat-ready aircraft carrier in the Pacific for a period.

However, such occurrences were rare prior to that.

Especially amid the increasingly fierce competition for dominance between the US and China following US President Donald Trump’s return to office, China is highly likely to use this opportunity to expand its influence in the Pacific.

Furthermore, online media outlet Axios pointed out that with President Trump drastically scaling back ROK-US joint military exercises with the resumption of North Korea-US dialogue in mind, and preparing for a summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping next month, the absence of an aircraft carrier overlaps with these events, potentially reinforcing China's argument that US security commitments are unreliable.

If the Middle East deployment is further prolonged due to the ongoing war in Iran, the absence of a US aircraft carrier in the Pacific region could even last for several months.

Mark Cancian, a retired US Marine Corps colonel, told Axios, "(China) is unlikely to launch a full-scale invasion, but it can use the vacuum to build its presence in the Pacific."

Brian Clark, a senior fellow at the US think tank Hudson Institute, pointed out, "Taiwan, the Philippines, and Japan will watch China flexing its military muscle in the absence of the US, and if this pattern continues, they will question whether the US will actually come to their aid in a crisis."

He added, "If they convince neighboring countries that 'the US won't protect you,' China doesn't even need to fight a war."

The argument is that if doubts deepen among neighboring countries regarding US security commitments, they will naturally lean toward China even if Beijing does not resort to a show of force.

The US Navy maintains 11 aircraft carriers, but not all of them are deployed to maritime operations simultaneously.

Because carriers typically require long-term maintenance after completing a mission, they operate on a rotational deployment structure.

Amid the prolonged war in Iran, the USS Lincoln and the USS George H.W. Bush are in the Middle East, while the USS Washington is currently en route there.

Since the rest are either undergoing maintenance or preparing for deployment, only three aircraft carriers are actually mobilized for operations.

In an editorial published in the newspaper that day, The Wall Street Journal pointed out that President Trump ordered a reduction in ROK-US drills, took conciliatory steps toward North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, and criticized South Korea by claiming that Seoul "is not participating in the denuclearization of Iran." The daily noted, "This further reinforces perceptions in Asia and Europe that 'the US is becoming an unreliable ally.'"

The editorial added that demands for South Korea's own nuclear armament could grow, noting that even if it was not President Trump's intention, the entire world is questioning US capabilities.