China deployed an aircraft carrier near Taiwan’s southeast coast, Taiwan’s defense ministry said Wednesday, as the island’s president prepared for a meeting with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy in Los Angeles later that day, according to Reuters.
McCarthy had originally promised to visit Taiwan personally but was persuaded to hold a meeting with President Tsai Ing-Wen at the culmination of a tour across North America to avoid provoking China and generating a replay of Beijing’s show of aggression when McCarthy’s predecessor visited in 2022. Beijing claims the self-governing island as an absolute component of its sovereign territory and has threatened unspecified retaliation if Tsai, who opposes Chinese Communist Party rule, followed through with the planned meeting with McCarthy, Reuters reported.
“The Chinese communists continue to send aircraft and ships to encroach in the seas and airspace around Taiwan,” the defense ministry said, adding that it was closely monitoring the carrier group, according to Reuters. “External pressure will not hinder our determination to go into the world.”
China staged its largest ever war games when former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi traveled to Taipei in August in an intended demonstration of democratic solidarity, roundly denouncing the visit as a violation of its sovereignty. (RELATED: Chinese Invasion Of Taiwan Would Devastate US And Allies, Simulation Finds)
“China firmly opposes the U.S.’s arrangement for Tsai Ing-wen’s ‘transit’ trip to the U.S. and a meeting between her and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy,” Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said Tuesday. Any arranged contact between U.S. officials and Tsai violates the “one China principle” and provisions in the three China-U.S. joint communiqués that affirmed Taiwan as a part of China, though self-governing.
“The Chinese side will closely monitor the situation as it develops and resolutely defend our sovereignty and territorial integrity,” Mao continued.
People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) ships led by an aircraft carrier passed through waters separating Taiwan from the Philippines and then entered waters to the island’s southeast, headed for training exercises in the western Pacific, Taiwan’s defense ministry said, according to Reuters.
Pro-Democray and Taiwan supporters hold signs during a rally in front of the Westin Bonaventure hotel where Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen will spend the night ahead of meeting with Kevin McCarthy, in Los Angeles, April 4, 2023. (Photo by FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP via Getty Images)
The Pentagon said Thursday it had not tracked any Chinese military movements that appeared to deviate from the the norm, which has recently included sending fighter jet sorties and ships into and near Taiwanese airspace at a record rate in a show of aggression.
China’s military has conducted similar movements during sensitive times in the past, including just before President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping were scheduled to hold a long-anticipated phone call, Reuters reported.
Taiwan’s defense ministry provided photos of the apparent strike group, according to Reuters. China has yet to publicly acknowledge the naval transit.
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