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Chinese spy ship, U.S. destroyer detected near Taiwan: source

ROC Central News Agency

07/14/2021 04:11 PM

Taipei, July 14 (CNA) A Chinese spy ship and a United States Navy destroyer were detected in waters off eastern Taiwan early Wednesday, a military source told CNA.

It was not clear if the appearance of the Chinese vessel, identified as the Type 815 spy ship Beijixing, or Polaris, had anything to do with the recent flight tests of Taiwan's new indigenous advanced jet trainer (AJT), the source said.

According to the source, the Beijixing was first detected 40 nautical miles east of Hualien County's Jingpu Village on Tuesday afternoon, heading south.

At around 7 a.m. Wednesday, it was detected some 43 nautical miles off Taitung County's Changbin Township and continued to move southward, the source said under the condition of anonymity as the person was not authorized to comment publicly on the issue.

Meanwhile, Taiwan's military also detected the USS Pinckney, a U.S. Navy Arleigh Burke-class destroyer, sailing into the Pacific Ocean via the Bashi Channel at around 4 a.m. Wednesday,

The destroyer was last detected some 44 nautical miles southeast of Orchid Island off Taiwan's southeastern coast before moving away from the Navy's range of surveillance, the source said.

The AJT, codenamed Yung Yin or "Brave Eagle," has completed internal flight tests and has conducted operational tests over the Pacific Ocean east of Taitung over the past two days, the source said.

An AJT fleet is scheduled to be stationed at Taitung Air Base before the end of this year, the source added.

Asked to confirm the presence of the Chinese and U.S. vessels, military spokesman Shih Shun-wen (史順文) sidestepped the question, saying only that the country's Armed Forces have a complete grasp of any activity near Taiwan's airspace and surrounding waters.

The military source said most of the Chinese spy ships detected in recent years in waters off eastern Taiwan have been Chinese Type 815 auxiliary general intelligence ships.

They include the Tianlangxing, or Sirius, listed under the North Sea Fleet and the Tianquanxing, or Megrez, listed under the South Sea Fleet as well as the Haida marine research vessel.

(By Lu Tai-chen and Joseph Yeh)

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