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07-04-2023
TAIPEI CITY: China’s second aircraft carrier, the Shandong, is engaged in an exercise in the western Pacific amid heightened tensions across the Taiwan Strait over a meeting between President Tsai Ing-wen and Speaker of the United States House of Representatives Kevin McCarthy.
Taiwanese Defence Minister Chiu Kuo-cheng told reporters in parliament on Thursday that the aircraft carrier was 200 nautical miles (370km) off Taiwan’s east coast.
“It is training but the timing is quite sensitive, and what it is up to we are still studying,” Chiu said, adding aircraft had yet to be seen taking off from its deck.
He later told lawmakers Taiwanese warships were monitoring the carrier at a distance of five to six nautical miles.
The Shandong, China’s first domestically-built aircraft carrier, sailed through the Bashi Channel south of Taiwan and into the Pacific on Wednesday with a number of other ships from the Chinese navy.
China’s state-run Global Times said the deployment showed the Shandong was “fully ready for far sea operations and safeguarding China’s national sovereignty and territorial integrity”. State media say the PLA (People’s Liberation Army) Eastern Theatre Command has been holding “intensive drills” on land, as well as in the sea and air over the past week. The Command covers China’s eastern coast.
The exercises come as Tsai met McCarthy in the US state of California, in a stopover furiously condemned by Beijing, which claims self-ruled Taiwan as its own and has not ruled out the use of force to take control of the island.
Tsai is on her way back to Taipei following Wednesday’s meeting, which she said was warm like the Californian sunshine.
McCarthy described Tsai as “a great friend to America”.
At a press conference after their talks, McCarthy reiterated the close ties between the US and Taiwan.
“The friendship between the people of Taiwan and America is a matter of profound importance to the free world, and it is critical to maintain economic freedom, peace and regional stability,” he said.
Tsai, meanwhile, thanked McCarthy and other US legislators who joined the meeting.
“Their presence and unwavering support reassure the people of Taiwan that we are not isolated and we are not alone,” Tsai said, later adding: “We are stronger when we are together.”
The meeting took place as Tsai returned from a trip to Belize and Guatemala, two of Taiwan’s 13 remaining diplomatic allies. (Int’l Monitoring Desk)
