Two US aircraft carriers and an amphibious assault ship briefly visited the Western Pacific near Taiwan amid China’s military exercise around the country.
The vessels showed the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier near Guam on December 15 before heading to the Philippine Sea, located southeast of Taiwan, as per fleet tracking data from the US Naval Institute.
The latest update indicates that the Lincoln is at the South China Sea for operations. The USS Tripoli and the USS George Washington are also close to the East China Sea, stationed at the port, according to updates on Monday.
About 14 Chinese warships, eight government vessels, and 90 People’s Liberation Army (PLA) warplanes were detected near Taiwan between 6 am on Monday and 6 am on Tuesday.
Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defence (MND) said that China’s PLA sent 130 warplanes and drones during the 24 hours to “harass” the country. About 90 of the planes that crossed the Taiwan Strait median line flew in Taiwanese airspace around the island, disrupting domestic flights, affecting about 100,000 passengers, Focus Taiwan reported.
A PLA balloon was also detected at around 3:30 pm on Monday at an altitude of 29,000 feet about 59 nautical miles north-west of Keeling City, north of Taiwan.
China had announced that it is conducting a large-scale military drill code-named “Justice Mission 2025”, which would include live fire exercises in the north, south-west, south-east, and east of Taiwan. The mission has appears to have covered a larger area than previous military drills by the PLA according to published maps of air and maritime areas. The zones also overlap with Taiwan’s territorial border which extends 12 nautical miles off its coast.
The exercise focused on “sea-air combat readiness patrol, joint seizure of comprehensive superiority, blockade of key ports and areas, as well as all-dimensional deterrence outside the island chain,” according to PLA Eastern Theatre Command spokesman Senior Colonel Shi Yi. The drills were conducted in five designated zones around Taiwan proper. Shi Yi said that the exercise was conducted as “a stern warning against ‘Taiwan Independence’ separatist forces and external interference forces.”
The MND said that the pasts of all five of the drill sones were within Taiwan’s territorial waters and called the move “irresponsible’
Taiwan’s Air Force Air Defence and Missile command sent the Haifeng brigade, which was stationed in Hualien, to Taitun to strengthen the coastal defence.
USS Tripoli assault ship, USS Lincoln, Washington, spotted near Taiwan waters amid China’s ‘Justice Mission’ military drill
