Taiwan’s defence ministry said China’s Shandong aircraft carrier had passed near the northern Philippines on its way to exercises in the Pacific Ocean, and Taipei said dozens of Chinese aircraft had joined the carrier in drills around Taiwan.
Taipei said on Wednesday that “since 5:20 a.m. today (11:50 p.m. UTC Tuesday), the Ministry of National Defense has confirmed a total of 37 Chinese aircraft, including fighter jets, bombers and drones, around Taiwan.”
“[The aircraft] “The ship traveled through southern and southeastern airspace towards the western Pacific Ocean and conducted ‘joint naval and air training’ in cooperation with the aircraft carrier Shandong,” the defence ministry said in a statement.
Aircraft carrier passes near Philippines
Taiwan’s Defense Minister Wellington Koo said his ministry was “fully aware” of the ship’s movements.
“The ship has not passed through the Bashi Channel,” he said, referring to the Bashi Channel that separates Taiwan and the Philippines and a route Chinese warships and fighter jets usually take to travel to the Pacific Ocean.
“The typhoon moved further south through the Balintang Strait and reached the western Pacific Ocean between Batanes and Babuyan Islands in the Philippines,” Khoo said.
China’s Defense Ministry did not immediately comment.
The Philippine military has expressed concern over the deployment of China’s aircraft carrier group.
“We stress the importance of maintaining peace and stability in the region and call on all parties to abide by international laws and norms,” spokesman Francel Margareth Padilla said, according to Reuters.
Manila and Beijing are at odds over Second Thomas Shoal in the South China Sea.
Japan’s Joint Staff Office confirmed on Tuesday that four Chinese naval vessels, including the aircraft carrier Shandong, were sailing in waters about 520 kilometers southeast of Miyako Island.
“On the same day, fighter jets and helicopters were observed taking off and landing on the Chinese Navy’s Kuznetsov-class aircraft carrier Shandong,” the office said.
Taiwan to strive to maintain status quo, says President Lai
Meanwhile, Taiwan’s President Lai Ching-te on Wednesday met with Raymond Green, the new director of the American Institute in Taiwan, the de facto U.S. embassy, and said the country would strive to maintain the status quo in the Taiwan Strait “in the face of repeated Chinese challenges and attempts to change it.”
China claims the democratic island of Taiwan as its own territory and has stationed fighter jets, drones and warships around the region on an almost daily basis.
In May, just days after Lai became president, China carried out military drills around Taiwan as “punishment” for what it viewed as a “confession of Taiwan independence” in his inaugural speech.
During their meeting on Wednesday, Greene told Lai that the United States continues to “strongly support Taiwan’s ability to defend itself.”
“Maintaining peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait is in our long-term shared interest. This is vital to the prosperity of the Indo-Pacific region and to global security,” the de facto US ambassador said.
Like many other countries, the United States does not officially recognise Taiwan diplomatically, but it is Taiwan’s most important arms supplier.
dvv/sms (AFP, Reuters)
