TAIPEI – Three Chinese ships, including the Shandong aircraft carrier, transited the Taiwan Strait on Saturday, according to the Taiwan Ministry of National Defense.
China claims democratic Taiwan as its territory and has pledged to seize it one day — by force if necessary.
Since Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen’s election in 2016, Beijing has increased air and maritime incursions surrounding the island, despite Tsai’s denial that the island is part of China.
While Taipei frequently monitors and announces the presence of Chinese warships, the transit of the Shandong through the 180-kilometer-wide Taiwan Strait is exceptional.
“A (People’s Liberation Army Navy) flotilla of three ships, led by the Shangdong aircraft carrier, passed through the Taiwan Strait around noon today,” the ministry stated.
The flotilla traveled “to the west of the median line, heading northward,” according to the report, referring to the unofficial border in the center of the strait that separates the island from mainland Asia.
Beijing’s latest show of power comes more than a month after the country conducted aviation and naval operations surrounding the island.
Beijing simulated targeted strikes on Taiwan and encirclement of the island, including “sealing” it off, during the April war drills, with official media reporting dozens of planes practicing a “aerial blockade.”
The Shandong also took part in the exercises, with J15 fighter planes launched from it – despite the fact that the ship was not in the Strait, but rather southeast of Taiwan.
The war drills were held in response to Tsai’s meeting with US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy in early April, which Beijing had warned would result in harsh retaliation.
Taiwan’s military claimed on Saturday that they “have monitored the situation and tasked (civil air patrol) aircraft, navy vessels, and land-based missile systems to respond to these activities.”
Chinese ships and warplanes have boosted their presence on the island in recent days.
According to the defense ministry, 33 warplanes and 10 warships were spotted in the 24 hours leading up to 6:00 a.m. Saturday.
The day prior, 11 ships were in Taiwanese waters.
The last time officials verified the Shandong sailed through the Taiwan Strait was in March 2022, just before a phone call between China’s Xi Jinping and US President Joe Biden.
Previously, the carrier went through in December 2020, a day after a US warship did. The Shandong also performed a flyby in December 2019, only weeks before Taiwanese voters went to the polls.
Source: AFP
