A US aircraft carrier battle group is now approaching Taiwan, having moved into seas around 350 nautical miles off Taiwan's eastern coast by Friday night, a defense source told the Taipei Times yesterday.
The approach of the Carl Vinson aircraft carrier battle group is related to a large-scale military exercise currently being conducted by China on Dongshan island off Fujian Province across the Taiwan Strait, the source said.
The move is reminiscent of a similar dispatch by the US government when it sent two aircraft carrier battle groups to the Taiwan Strait during the 1996 Taiwan Strait Crisis.
At that time China was also holding a large-scale military exercise on Dongshan island.
The Carl Vinson aircraft carrier battle group left for Taiwan from Washington early last month, the defense source said, adding that its mission is to conduct an exercise in the west Pacific.
"The battle group's arrival is by no means accidental. It is obviously aimed at sending a message to China," the defense source said.
The US State Department, however, issued a statement saying the war games are "not unusual," but added that it will continue to monitor the situation in the Taiwan Strait very closely.
The military exercise on Dong-shan island has also been called "routine" by Taiwan's Ministry of National Defense.
But a defense official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told the Taipei Times that the exercise may be a routine one but that it is one of the largest drills in recent years that simulates an amphibious invasion of Taiwan.
"Beware of the troops mobilized for the exercise. They are elite forces of the PLA, the Chinese military. Tens of thousands of these elite forces have been [gathered] for participation in the exercise on Dongshan island," the defense official said.
"These troops are specially trained to invade Taiwan. They are called `iron fist' troops and are selected from different units. The iron fist troops participating in the Dongshan island exercise are the most organized troops in recent years," the official said.
Besides the mobilized troops, the exercise on the Dongshan island has many other features which have aroused great attention within Taiwan's military intelligence.
One of the features is the use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in the exercise. The UAVs are being used more frequently by the Chinese military.
The Chinese military is also using two R-class submarines in the exercise, which are equipped with anti-ship missiles.
The R-class submarines are outdated, but they now have the ability to launch anti-ship missiles from under the sea.
A transport vessel, that is designed to be specially used in an invasion of Taiwan, is also used in the exercise. It is capable of carrying hundreds of armed soldiers across the Taiwan Strait.
In addition to the exercise on Dongshan island, the Chinese military has also launched a smaller exercise in the South China Sea.
The exercise in the South China Sea simulates armed occupation of islands in the region as well as attacks on aircraft carrier battle groups, apparently aimed at the US forces.
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