Tensions in Asia: Chinese aircraft carrier taunts Taiwan
Taiwan’s Ministry of Defense announced that the Chinese aircraft carrier Shandong and two other ships crossed the Taiwan Strait on Saturday.
The ships then sailed north around noon today local time along the median line separating Taiwan from mainland China. The Ministry of Defense said in a statement that the Taiwanese military, which monitored this close movement of its ships and aircraft, carried out the she responded appropriately.
China’s Defense Ministry did not respond to a request for comment, and China’s armed forces did not mention the flight on their official social media.
Last August, China deployed a large number of aircraft and carried out missile launches near Taiwan, in what constituted the largest military maneuvers ever in the Taiwan Strait, after the visit of “former Democratic spokesperson Nancy Pelosi in Taipei. The Taiwan Ministry of Defense also said on Saturday that eight Chinese fighter jets have crossed the central line of the strait in the past 24 hours, a process that has become regular since Aug. Taiwan demands its independence from China, which it considers part of its territory and threatens to reintegrate it into its fold by force.
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