1 of 1 Image of Taipei City, Taiwan Photo: Tyrone Siu/ Portal Image of Taipei City, Taiwan Photo: Tyrone Siu/ Portal
Taiwan’s Defense Ministry said on Saturday (27) that three Chinese ships, including the aircraft carrier Shandong, had crossed the Taiwan Strait. The ships crossed the invisible border between Taiwan and mainland China, which was unilaterally drawn by the United States during the Cold War and which Beijing refuses to recognize.
“A threeship flotilla of the PLA (People’s Liberation Army) led by the aircraft carrier Shandong crossed the Taiwan Strait around noon today,” the Taiwan Defense Ministry said in a statement.
Taipei is constantly monitoring the presence of Chinese warships in the Taiwan Strait. However, that of the aircraft carrier Shandong is unusual.
Taiwan’s military “is monitoring the situation and has deployed aircraft (civilian air patrol), naval vessels and landbased missile systems to respond to these activities,” Taiwan’s defense ministry responded.
Since the end of the Chinese Civil War in 1949, China has viewed Taiwan as a province that has yet to reunite with the rest of its territory. Taiwan is demanding independence from China, which is threatening to reintegrate it by force.
Understand the importance of Taiwan
context of tension
For Steve Tsang, director of the SOAS China Institute at the University of London, the passage of the aircraft carrier Shandong through the Taiwan Strait is “very unusual”.
“But the Chinese have been trying to demonstrate their military might around Taiwan for about six months,” he said. Thus, the emergence of the aircraft carrier Shandong in the straits is part of that “general context,” the analyst added.
The last time Taiwanese authorities reported the presence of the Chinese aircraft carrier in the Taiwan Strait was in March 2022.
Relations between Beijing and Taipei have deteriorated in recent years as China has stepped up military incursions around the island.
Beijing’s show of force comes just over a month after military maneuvers around the island in April aimed at encircling Taiwan for three days. During these exercises, Beijing simulated targeted bombings of the autonomous island and even a siege of Taiwan. On the last day of operations, the Taiwanese authorities discovered 12 Chinese warships and 91 aircraft.
Analysis conducted by the Center for International Studies and Strategies (CSIS) indicates that if China attempts to invade Taiwan, Americans must intervene to preserve the island’s independence. The researchers are taking this a step further: they point out that the prospect of open conflict between the two world superpowers is likely and is likely to occur between now and 2027.