Thu, Oct 15, 2026 page2

• Chinese naval carrier group enters western Pacific

  • By Fang Wei-li and Fion Khan / Staff reporter, with staff writer
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  A Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) Navy aircraft carrier group was being monitored after entering the western Pacific, the Ministry of National Defense said today, after Beijing yesterday criticized Taiwan for using a water cannon against a Chinese fishing boat near the Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島).

  A Chinese naval task group led by the aircraft carrier Liaoning (遼寧) yesterday sailed to the western Pacific for training, Chinese state-run Xinhua news agency quoted the PLA Navy as saying.

  “The drill is part of the annual routine training plan aimed at testing and improving the troops’ combat readiness and enhancing their ability to fulfill missions,” the PLA Navy said, adding that the exercises” are not directed at any specific country or target.”

  

  Ministry of National Defense signage at the ministry in Taipei is pictured in an undated photograph.

  Photo: CNA

  The move has caused heightened tensions and concern among countries in the region, Deputy Chief of the General Staff for Intelligence Pan Chun-kuang (潘俊光) told a news conference in Taipei today.

  The ministry would coordinate relevant monitoring and response measures, he said, declining to provide further details about the carrier group’s movements.

  Asked whether the ministry expects the PLA to conduct large-scale military exercises around Taiwan this year, Pan said that Beijing has held large-scale exercises encircling Taiwan every year since August 2022.

  The ministry would continue to use joint intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities to monitor PLA military exercises and movements in real time, he said.

  The ministry is aware that Beijing recently used propaganda to amplify the cognitive warfare impact of its military activities, he said, adding that such actions are destabilizing.

  The ministry would remain highly vigilant and respond appropriately, he added.

  Meanwhile, 15 Chinese military aircraft, 10 naval ships and seven official ships were detected around Taiwan between 6pm yesterday and 6am today, the ministry said in its daily report.

  Thirteen Chinese military aircraft crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait and entered Taiwan’s northern, central, southwestern and eastern air defense identification zones, it said.

  The armed forces “monitored the situation and employed [patrol] aircraft, navy vessels and coastal missile systems in response to the detected activities,” the ministry said.

  In related news, China’s Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO) spokesman Chen Binhua (陳斌華) yesterday said that Taiwan must "bear the consequences" of its coast guard using a water cannon against a Chinese fishing boat near an ‌atoll in the South China Sea.

  On Oct. 1, the Coast Guard Administration dispatched a patrol vessel and expelled two Chinese fishing boats that had entered Taiwan’s prohibited waters near the Pratas Islands.

  Taiwan's "treatment of mainland vessels roughly in a dangerous manner that endangers the lives and property of the personnel involved is maliciously stirring up cross-strait confrontation and they must bear all consequences arising from this," Chen said, without elaborating on the consequences.

  A Taiwan official with direct knowledge of the situation around the Pratas Islands said that the coast guard carried out "normal law enforcement" during the incident and responded in a "very careful and proportionate way."

  The Pratas Islands lie roughly between southern Taiwan and Hong Kong. Security experts see them as vulnerable to Chinese attack due to their distance — more than 400 km — from Taiwan.

  Taiwan says China is increasing its use of "gray zone" tactics that stop short of outright military action to pressure the nation.

  Speaking at a forum in Taipei, National Security Council Deputy Secretary-General Lii Wen (李問) said that China is using a wider range of ships in its "incremental acts of aggression," including militia boats and research vessels.

  "Gray zone activities under the threshold of conflict have raised serious concerns for their potential to disrupt transportation or damage critical infrastructure," he said.

  Additional reporting by Reuters and CNA
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