China aircraft carrier 200 nautical miles off Taiwan on training mission: Defense chief
ROC Central News Agency
04/06/2023 03:05 PM
Taipei, April 6 (CNA) A Chinese aircraft carrier named the Shandong (山東艦) is currently on what is expected to be a long-range training exercises about 200 nautical miles east of Taiwan, and Taiwanese naval frigates are keeping close tabs on its every move, Taiwan's Defense Minister Chiu Kuo-cheng (邱國正) said Thursday.
Since the Shandong departed from its base at Sanya Naval Port in South China's Hainan Province a few days ago, Taiwan's armed forces have been closely monitoring its movements, Chiu said.
Taiwanese forces tracked the Shandong early Wednesday as it passed through the narrow Bashi Channel south of Taiwan and sailed into the West Pacific, where it is expected to carry out its first long-range training mission in that area, he said.
Currently, the aircraft carrier is located about 200 nautical miles east of Eluanbi on Taiwan's southern tip, Chiu told lawmakers' during a legislative session.
While the Ministry of National Defense (MND) thinks the Chinese aircraft carrier is there on a training mission, Taiwan's military has not seen any aircraft taking off or landing on the Shandong, as is expected during such exercises, he said.
The MND, therefore, will not rule out the possibility that the Shandong might conduct live-fire drills near Taiwan in response to the historic meeting between President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) and U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Kevin McCarthy in California on Wednesday, Chiu said.
As a precaution, Taiwan's Navy has dispatched several Cheng Kung-class and Lafayette-class frigates to closely monitor the Shandong, and they are currently about 5-6 nautical miles away from the aircraft carrier, Chui said, without disclosing the number of frigates.
Meanwhile, an American nuclear-powered aircraft carrier the USS Nimitz, one of the world's largest warships, is also in the West Pacific, about 400 nautical miles east of Taiwan, according to Chiu.
The U.S. naval vessel is not there specifically because of the Shandong, but its deployment is "somewhat related to that," Chiu said, without elaborating.
According to a source that asked not to be named, the USS Nimitz is conducting joint anti-submarine drills with Japanese and South Korean forces in the West Pacific.
The Shandong, one of China's two aircraft carriers, was the first to be built domestically. It was commissioned into the People's Liberation Army (PLA) Navy in 2019.
As of press time, China had not released any information about the deployment of the Shandong.
On Wednesday, the Fujian Maritime Safety Administration (MSA)issued a statement, saying that a three-day "joint cruise and patrol special operation" was being carried out in the Taiwan Strait, led by the Haixun 06, the largest Chinese maritime patrol ship deployed to the strait.
Starting Wednesday, inspectors on the patrol fleet will conduct on-site checks on vessels and construction sites in the area, to make sure the ships and construction projects are operating smoothly, the MSA said.
The area mentioned by the MSA includes sea routes used by ferries operating between China's coastal cities and Taiwan's Matsu and Kinmen islands, by cargo ships plying between Fujian's Pingtan Islands and Taiwan, and seas traversed by many commercial and fishing vessels. It is also an area known for rampant illegal mining.
Asked about the possibility of onboard inspections of Taiwanese commercial ships by the Chinese patrol, Chiu did not give a direct answer, saying only that China is attempting to eliminate the median line in the Taiwan Strait and create a false impression that the waters east of the line is part of its jurisdiction.
During Thursday's legislative session, National Security Bureau deputy chief Henry Ko (柯承亨) told lawmakers, however, that Taiwan's Coast Guard Administration (CGA) was carrying out its own patrols and had given clear directives to Taiwan ships.
"We have asked Taiwanese vessels not to cooperate with any Chinese maritime police attempting to make on-board inspections and to report any such attempts to the CGA," Ko said.
The median line in the Taiwan Strait is an unofficial border between Taiwan and China, which has been observed since 1950s until recently, based on a tacit understanding between the Republic of China (Taiwan) and the People's Republic of China.
The current Chinese military and maritime deployments followed an announcement Monday by McCarthy's office that he would meet with Tsai during her stopover in California on her return from Central America.
It was the third time that a Taiwanese president had met with a U.S. House speaker since the ROC and the U.S. ended official diplomatic relations in 1979, and it was the first such meeting on U.S. soil.
The first meeting occurred in 1997 when Newt Gingrich met with President Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) in Taipei, and the second was in August 2022, when Nancy Pelosi met with Tsai, also in Taipei.
Beijing, which sees Taiwan as part of its territory, has objected to the meeting between Tsai and McCarthy, warning that it would take "resolute measures" to protect Chinese sovereignty.
(By Joseph Yeh)
Enditem/pc
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