On Saturday, the Chinese aircraft carrier “Shandong” and two other ships crossed the Taiwan Strait in what is considered a show of force by Beijing in this area that separates the island from the mainland, according to an expert. The Taiwanese Defense Ministry reported that “a flotilla of the People’s Liberation Army Navy, led by the aircraft carrier ‘Shandong’, crossed the Taiwan Strait around noon” on Saturday.
In the statement, the ministry added that the ships sailed “west of the median line in a northerly direction,” referring to the unofficial border in the middle of the strait. China does not recognize this invisible border drawn unilaterally by the United States during the Cold War. Taiwan constantly monitors the presence of Chinese warships and makes almost daily announcements.
The passage of the “Shandong” through the 180-kilometer-wide Taiwan Strait, which separates the island from the Asian mainland, is unusual. The ministry stated that Taiwan’s armed forces “have been monitoring the situation and have tasked aircraft, navy ships, and land-based missile systems to respond to these activities.”
Relations between China and Taiwan have worsened recently, being considered at their lowest point since President Xi Jinping came to power in Beijing more than 10 years ago. China has stepped up its military incursions around the island, and according to Steve Tsang, director of the SOAS China Institute at the University of London, the passage of the aircraft carrier “Shandong” in the Taiwan Strait is “very unusual.” Tsang explained that the Chinese have been trying to demonstrate their military power in recent months or even the last year around Taiwan.
The last time Taiwanese authorities detected the presence of the Chinese aircraft carrier in the strait was in March 2022, prior to a telephone conversation between Xi Jinping and US President Joe Biden. This show of force on Saturday comes just over a month after China’s military maneuvers around the island, where it simulated bombardments and a three-day “encirclement” of Taiwanese territory.