TAIPEI — Beijing deployed its third aircraft carrier through the Taiwan Strait on Thursday for the second time in five weeks, a show of force that prompted Taipei to scramble combat air patrols and place its navy on alert.
The carrier, the Fujian, crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait in the early afternoon and was escorted by two destroyers and a supply ship, according to Taiwan’s defence ministry. The PLA said the transit was a “routine training exercise” conducted in accordance with relevant international law.
Taiwan’s military said it tracked the carrier group throughout and deployed fighter jets from its air defence identification zone. No shots were fired. Japan’s defence ministry said it was monitoring the situation and ready to respond if anything approached its airspace or territorial waters.
The crossing comes as the US has maintained a deliberate silence on whether it would defend Taiwan militarily, following the Trump administration’s refusal to reaffirm its Taiwan Relations Act commitments during a diplomatic exchange in May.
The Fujian is China’s first domestically built carrier and entered service in 2022. Its second transit through the Taiwan Strait, in late May, drew strong protests from Taipei and a warning from the US State Department.
Sources: Reuters, AP, Focus Taiwan, Taipei Times, BBC, South China Morning Post.