US carrier strike group dispatched to South China Sea

MANILA, Philippines — A small US Navy fleet moved into the disputed waters of the South China Sea this week in what US media outlets deemed a show of force in the region.

Quoting US Navy officials, the Washington Times reported that the carrier strike group USS John C. Stennis, with its 7,000 sailors, arrived in the strategic waterway on Tuesday. Cruiser USS Mobile Bay and the destroyers USS Stockdale and USS Chung-Hoon are part of the group accompanying the carrier for the patrol.

Based on releases of US Navy in the past 24 hours, the USS Stennis cited "South China Sea" on its dateline and showed its crew conducting advancement exams, damage control drills and giving out "sailor of the day" awards aboard the carrier.

Cmdr. Clay Doss, spokesperson of the 7th Fleet, downplayed the visit as a posture to counter that of China, which has been criticized for militarizing the contested region.

Aviation Ordnanceman 3rd Class Jose Martinez, from Land O' Lakes, Fla., sets up a long-range acoustic device on USS John C. Stennis' (CVN 74) fantail while in the South China Sea on Tuesday, March 2, 2016.  US Navy/Kenneth Rodriguez Santiago/Released

"Our ships and aircraft operate routinely throughout the Western Pacific—including the South China Sea—and have for decades," Doss said, as cited in a Navy Times report. "In 2015 alone, Pacific Fleet ships sailed about 700 combined days in the South China Sea."

The strike group traversed the Philippine Sea in late February, during which Japan's Murasame-class destroyer JDS Samidare visited it. On February 4, the group crossed the International Date Line into the US 7th Fleet's area of operations, a few weeks after its deployment from Washington in mid-January.

Capt. Michael Wettlaufer, the Stennis's commanding officer, calls the aircraft carrier the "world's finest." Its crew also described the warship as having "more high-tech ordnance than flavors of jellybeans."

Earlier this week, US Defense Secretary Ash Carter warned China of "specific consequences" from its actions in the South China Sea, where the emerging Asian power recently placed anti-access systems and military aircraft.

"The United States wants every nation to have the opportunity to rise and that includes China. We welcome its rise and its inclusion in this architecture. But we don't welcome aggressive behavior," Carter said in San Francisco.

"Indeed, while some in the region appear determined to play spoiler, the United States and our many friends in the region don't plan on letting anyone upend seven decades' worth of progress," he added.

WATCH: US Defense chief's strong words on South China Sea

The USS John C. Stennis arrived in the Philippines in August 2011 for a goodwill visit.