Chinese aircraft carrier group near Taiwan's southeast coast

TAIPEI: Taiwan's defence ministry said on Wednesday April 5 that a Chinese aircraft carrier group was in the waters off the island's southeast coast, the same day President Tsai Ing-wen was due to meet US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy in Los Angeles.

China, which claims Taiwan is its own territory, has warned of unspecified retaliation if the meeting goes ahead.

China conducted war games around Taiwan last August after the visit to Taipei by then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

Taiwan's defence ministry said Chinese ships led by the Shandong carrier passed through the Bashi Channel which separates Taiwan from the Philippines and then into waters to Taiwan's southeast.

It said that the ships were going for training in the Western Pacific and Taiwanese naval and air forces and land-based radar systems were closely monitored.

The ministry said that the Chinese communists continue to send aircraft and ships to encroach in the seas and airspace around Taiwan.

It also destroys the status quo of regional security and stability, because of the fact that it poses a significant threat to national security. Such actions are by no means the acts of a responsible modern country.