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BEIJING: A group of aircraft carriers led by China’s newest aircraft carrier, the Shandong, sailed through the Taiwan Straits on their way to routine drills in the South China Sea, the US Navy said on Monday (December 21). China, after Taiwan mobilized its forces to monitor the trip.
While it is not the first time that Chinese carriers have passed close to Taiwan, it comes at a time of increased tension between Taipei and Beijing, which claims the democratically ruled island as its territory.
The Shandong Carrier Group sailed through the Taiwan Strait a day after a US warship transited the same waterway. China’s military said it followed the ship.
China’s navy said the Shandong and accompanying ships had “smoothly” transited the Taiwan Strait on Sunday, heading for exercises in the South China Sea, where China has extensive and disputed territorial gains.
The drills are part of “normal arrangements made according to the annual plans,” he said. “In the future, we will continue to organize similar operations based on training needs.”
Taiwan’s Defense Ministry said the Shandong was accompanied by four warships and had sailed from Dalian port in north China on Thursday. Taiwan said it sent six warships and eight air force planes to “stand guard” and monitor the movements of Chinese ships.
The Shandong is China’s second aircraft carrier and was formally commissioned almost exactly a year ago.
Since then, it has successfully completed tasks such as taking off and landing of carrier-based planes and using their weapons, the Chinese navy said.
“The combat capability of the training system has been continually improved in experimental training,” he added, referring to the group of warships accompanying the Shandong.
China has been working to refine its aircraft carrier operations, but it has little experience compared to the United States, which has operated multi-ship integrated carrier battle groups for decades.
