An aircraft carrier group led by China’s newest carrier, the Shandong, sailed through the Taiwan Strait on its way to routine drills in the South China Sea, China’s navy said on Monday, after Taiwan mobilised its forces to monitor the convoy.
The Shandong sailed through the Taiwan Strait a day after a US warship passed through the same stretch of sea.
China’s navy said the Shandong and its accompanying ships had “smoothly” travelled through the sensitive Taiwan Strait on Sunday, heading for exercises in the South China Sea, where China has made extensive territorial claims in the disputed waters.
The drills are part of “normal arrangements made in accordance with annual plans”, it said. “In the future, we will continue to organise similar operations based on training needs.”
The carrier’s move through the strait comes amid rising tension between China and Taiwan, which Beijing sees as part of its territory. The democratically ruled island says it has recorded almost daily incursions into its airspace by the Chinese armed forces in recent months.
Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense said the Shandong was accompanied by four warships and had set out from the northern Chinese port of Dalian on Thursday. In a statement on its website, it said the convoy continued to move south.
Taiwan said it sent six warships and eight military aircraft to monitor the Chinese ships’ movements.
© 2020, GDC. © GDC and www.globaldefensecorp.com. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to www.globaldefensecorp.com with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.
Be the first to comment