Pentagon Chief Takes Jab at China With Aircraft Carrier Stop

With a key Asian ally at his side, U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter made a subtle jab at China on Thursday by flying aboard an American aircraft carrier plying the contested waters of the South China Sea

A U.S. Navy fighter jet approaches to land on the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71), a missile cruiser and a nuclear-powered submarine during Exercise Malabar 2015, some 152 miles off eastern coast of Chennai, India, Saturday, Oct. 17, 2015. Naval warships, aircraft carriers and submarines from the U.S., India and Japan steamed into the Bay of Bengal on Saturday as they took part in joint military exercises off India's east coast, signaling the growing strategic ties among the three countries as they face up to a rising China. AP Photo/Arun Sankar K.

ABOARD THE USS THEODORE ROOSEVELT—With a key Asian ally at his side, U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter made a subtle jab at China on Thursday, Nov. 5, by flying aboard an American aircraft carrier plying the contested waters of the South China Sea.

He and his Malaysian counterpart, Hishammuddin Hussein, watched U.S. Navy fighter jets roar off the steel deck of the USS Theodore Roosevelt as it sailed under a midday sun about 70 miles northwest of Borneo.

There's a lot of concern about Chinese behavior out here.

— Ash Carter, U. S. defense secretary