PLA aircraft carrier fleet seen not far from Taiwan: MND
ROC Central News Agency
04/24/2023 09:44 PM
Taipei, April 24 (CNA) A naval fleet including China's newest aircraft carrier, the Shandong, has been detected 120 nautical miles southeast of Taiwan's southernmost point, the Ministry of National Defense (MND) said Monday.
The MND noted as it usually does when China's People's Liberation Army (PLA) aircraft or ships operate in Taiwan's vicinity that it mobilized combat air and and naval patrols and its radar detection units in response to the potential threat.
Based on intelligence gathered through its joint intelligence and surveillance system, the fleet was spotted in the Western Pacific and was likely to continue sailing in waters southeast of Taiwan, the MND said.
The Shandong was part of the military exercises launched by the PLA around Taiwan starting April 8, one day after President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) returned from a 10-day overseas trip that included a meeting with U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy in California.
Local reports indicated that Taiwan's military had mobilized forces into the Hengchun Peninsula in the southernmost part of Taiwan on Monday as a precaution after Shenyang J-15 fighter jets used on China's aircraft carriers were spotted entering the southeastern corner of Taiwan's air defense identification zone (ADIZ).
(By Henry Wu and James Lo)
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