Chinese Aircraft Carrier Transits Taiwan Strait, Too

The Chinese aircraft carrier Shandong and escort vessels sailed through Taiwan Strait on Wednesday, Taiwan's defense ministry said, amid heightened tension over the island Beijing claims as its own territory, Yimou Lee and Ben Blanchard reported for Reuters.

Photo Insert: The State Office in Washington D.C., United States (placed in the photo)

The ministry said the Shandong, commissioned in 2019, had sailed in a southerly direction through the western part of the strait, and it had dispatched "appropriate forces" to monitor the Chinese activities.

The aircraft carrier participated in Chinese military drills around Taiwan in April, operating in the western Pacific. In March last year, it sailed through the Taiwan Strait, just hours before the leaders of China and the US were due to talk.

China, which has never renounced the use of force to bring Taiwan under its control, has stepped up military activities near the democratically governed island to force it to accept Chinese sovereignty.

Taiwan disputes Beijing's sovereignty claims and vows to defend itself if attacked. Lately, Chinese President Xi Jinping also claimed the Min people of China were the first settlers of Okinawa and the Ryukyus, implying that the Japanese have no right to those areas.

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