Taiwanese military jets scrambled to shadow a Chinese aircraft carrier passing through the Taiwan Strait en route to Hong Kong to mark the 20th anniversary of the former British colony’s return to China.
Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) on Saturday swore in Hong Kong’s new leader with a stark warning that Beijing would not tolerate any challenge to its authority in the divided territory, in his strongest speech yet amid concerns over what some perceive as increased meddling by Beijing.
The Soviet-built Liaoning, whose home port is in northern China, on Saturday entered Taiwan’s air defense identification zone (ADIZ) and was sailing just west of the middle of the Taiwan Strait, the Ministry of Defense said in a statement.
Photo: Reuters
Taiwan deployed military jets and ships to monitor the fleet’s passage, the ministry said.
Nothing abnormal had been detected as the Chinese battle group headed southwest and was expected to leave Taiwan’s ADIZ by yesterday evening, the ministry said.
The naval formation headed by the Liaoning entered Taiwan’s ADIZ on Saturday and was yesterday sailing southwest along the Taiwan Strait, the Ministry of National Defense said.
The battle group was sailing west of the Taiwan Strait’s mid-line, the ministry said, predicting that it would leave the ADIZ by 8:30pm yesterday. This could not be confirmed as of press time last night.
Under the military’s regulations for handling quickly changing conditions during periods of regular combat readiness, aircraft and ships were dispatched to monitor the formation’s movement and the military would take responsive action in the event of any abrupt developments, the ministry said.
“Currently no such situation has occurred,” it added.
The Liaoning is to be open to the public in Hong Kong to showcase the “military might” of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy, Xinhua news agency cited its spokesman, Liang Yang (梁陽), as saying.
It is due to arrive on Friday, Hong Kong media said.
The formation is comprised of the Liaoning, the destroyers Jinan and Yinchuan, the frigate Yantai, and a squadron of J-15 fighter jets and helicopters, Yang told reporters.
It was the third time that the Liaoning has sailed near Taiwan in past months for what Beijing has said were routine drills in December last year and again in January.
China has never renounced the use of force to bring Taiwan under its control.
‘ABUSE OF POWER’: Lee Chun-yi allegedly used a Control Yuan vehicle to transport his dog to a pet grooming salon and take his wife to restaurants, media reports said Control Yuan Secretary-General Lee Chun-yi (李俊俋) resigned on Sunday night, admitting that he had misused a government vehicle, as reported by the media. Control Yuan Vice President Lee Hung-chun (李鴻鈞) yesterday apologized to the public over the issue. The watchdog body would follow up on similar accusations made by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and would investigate the alleged misuse of government vehicles by three other Control Yuan members: Su Li-chiung (蘇麗瓊), Lin Yu-jung (林郁容) and Wang Jung-chang (王榮璋), Lee Hung-chun said. Lee Chun-yi in a statement apologized for using a Control Yuan vehicle to transport his dog to a
Taiwan yesterday denied Chinese allegations that its military was behind a cyberattack on a technology company in Guangzhou, after city authorities issued warrants for 20 suspects. The Guangzhou Municipal Public Security Bureau earlier yesterday issued warrants for 20 people it identified as members of the Information, Communications and Electronic Force Command (ICEFCOM). The bureau alleged they were behind a May 20 cyberattack targeting the backend system of a self-service facility at the company. “ICEFCOM, under Taiwan’s ruling Democratic Progressive Party, directed the illegal attack,” the warrant says. The bureau placed a bounty of 10,000 yuan (US$1,392) on each of the 20 people named in
INDO-PACIFIC REGION: Royal Navy ships exercise the right of freedom of navigation, including in the Taiwan Strait and South China Sea, the UK’s Tony Radakin told a summit Freedom of navigation in the Indo-Pacific region is as important as it is in the English Channel, British Chief of the Defence Staff Admiral Tony Radakin said at a summit in Singapore on Saturday. The remark came as the British Royal Navy’s flagship aircraft carrier, the HMS Prince of Wales, is on an eight-month deployment to the Indo-Pacific region as head of an international carrier strike group. “Upholding the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, and with it, the principles of the freedom of navigation, in this part of the world matters to us just as it matters in the
The High Court yesterday found a New Taipei City woman guilty of charges related to helping Beijing secure surrender agreements from military service members. Lee Huei-hsin (李慧馨) was sentenced to six years and eight months in prison for breaching the National Security Act (國家安全法), making illegal compacts with government employees and bribery, the court said. The verdict is final. Lee, the manager of a temple in the city’s Lujhou District (蘆洲), was accused of arranging for eight service members to make surrender pledges to the Chinese People’s Liberation Army in exchange for money, the court said. The pledges, which required them to provide identification