China aircraft carrier sails through Taiwan Strait a day after US warship
- The Shandong led a group of warships to the South China Sea for routine annual exercises, according to Chinese navy
- Sunday’s passage followed accusations that USS Mustin cast ‘flirtatious glances’ at Taiwanese independence supporters one day earlier
“Over the past year since the Shandong was entered into service, it has completed carrier-based take-off and landing exercises, weapons practice, combat system adjustments and other tasks, and the combat ability of its formation system has continued to improve through training,” he said.
“This time, we organised the Shandong carrier to carry out cross-regional manoeuvre training as part of our normal arrangements in our annual plan. We will continue to organise future trainings based on our training needs.”
Taiwan’s defence ministry also confirmed the carrier’s passage through the strait – which separates mainland China from Taiwan – in a statement late on Sunday, noting that the Shandong had first set sail southward from the port of Dalian in Liaoning province last Thursday. The ministry said it had deployed six ships and eight types of aircraft to monitor the situation.