China’s Liaoning aircraft carrier passes through Taiwan Strait
- Strike group sails through sensitive waters, with self-ruled island’s military keeping a close watch on ships’ movements
- Both US and mainland China have been active in strategically sensitive waters in recent months
A Chinese aircraft carrier group was passing through the strategically sensitive Taiwan Strait on Tuesday, according to the authorities in Taipei.
The Liaoning, along with its five escorts, entered the highly sensitive waters from the South China Sea, heading towards its home port of Qingdao in eastern China, the Taiwanese defence ministry confirmed in a statement on its website.
“Please be reassured that the military is able to exercise joint intelligence to get hold of the [strike group’s] entire movements and deal with any emergency to ensure national security and regional stability,” the ministry said.
The Taiwan Strait, which separates the self-ruled island of Taiwan and the Chinese mainland, is an important international waterway for trade.
But since 1949, when the defeated Nationalists fled to the island at the end of the Chinese civil war, it has been a potential flashpoint.
The government in Beijing still regards Taiwan as a breakaway province and has never renounced the use of force to reunite it with the mainland.