On Wednesday, Taiwan's defense ministry announced that a Chinese aircraft carrier group was sailing in the waters southeast of the island, coinciding with President Tsai Ing-wen's meeting with U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy in Los Angeles. China, which views Taiwan as part of its territory, has threatened unspecified retaliation if the meeting proceeds.
Last August, China conducted military exercises around Taiwan in response to then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's visit to Taipei. The Taiwanese defense ministry stated that the Chinese ships, led by the carrier Shandong, traveled through the Bashi Channel, which separates Taiwan from the Philippines, and then entered waters southeast of Taiwan.
According to the defense ministry, the ships were headed for training exercises in the Western Pacific. Taiwanese naval and air forces, as well as land-based radar systems, closely monitored the vessels.
"The Chinese communists continue to send aircraft and ships to encroach in the seas and airspace around Taiwan," the ministry said. "In addition to posing a substantial threat to our national security, it also destroys the status quo of regional security and stability. Such actions are by no means the acts of a responsible modern country."
The ministry provided two images, one showing the carrier in a grainy black-and-white aerial photo, and another depicting a Taiwanese sailor observing the Shandong and another unidentified ship in the distance.
China, which has yet to comment on the carrier group, has previously deployed its aircraft carriers near Taiwan during sensitive periods. In March of last year, the Shandong sailed through the Taiwan Strait just hours before the Chinese and U.S. presidents were scheduled to speak.
In its statement regarding the Shandong's latest mission near Taiwan, the defense ministry emphasized that "external pressure will not hinder our determination to go into the world."
Taiwan's military will continue to closely monitor the situation in the Taiwan Strait and adhere to the principles of "not escalating conflicts, not causing disputes" in addressing any challenges.
