China says aircraft carrier group on way to South China Sea for drills
21 December, 2020
An aircraft carrier group led by China's latest carrier, the Shandong, has sailed through the Taiwan Strait on its way to routine drills in the South China Sea, China's navy said on Monday (Dec 21), after Taiwan mobilised its forces to monitor the trip.
While it isn't the very first time China's carriers have passed near to Taiwan, it comes at a time of heightened tension between Taipei and Beijing, which claims the democratically ruled island as its territory.
The Shandong carrier group sailed through the Taiwan Strait a day after a US warship transited the same waterway. China's military said it tailed the ship.
China's navy said the Shandong and its own accompanying ships had "smoothly" transited the sensitive and narrow Taiwan Strait on Sunday, heading for exercises in the South China Sea, where China has considerable and disputed territorial gains.
The drills are part of "normal arrangements manufactured in accordance with gross annual plans", it said. "Later on, we will continue to organise similar operations predicated on training needs."
Taiwan's Defence Ministry said the Shandong was accompanied by four warships and had lay out from the northern Chinese port of Dalian on Thursday. Taiwan said it sent six warships and eight air force aircraft to "stand guard" and monitor the Chinese ships' movements.
The Shandong is China's second carrier, and was formally commissioned almost specifically a year ago.
Since that time, it has successfully completed tasks such as for example carrier-based aircraft take-off and landing and utilization of its weapons, the Chinese navy said.
"The combat capacity for the formation system has been consistently improved in experimental training," it added, discussing the band of warships which accompany the Shandong.
China has been working to hone its carrier operations, but has little experience when compared to United States, which has operated integrated carrier battle groups with multiple vessels for many years.
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