Taiwan military tracks Chinese carrier's passage through Taiwan Strait

Taipei, Sept. 12 (CNA) Taiwan's Ministry of National Defense (MND) said Friday it employed joint intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance measures to monitor the movements of China's third aircraft carrier, the Fujian, as it recently transited the Taiwan Strait en route to the South China Sea.

The ministry, in response to a CNA inquiry about the Fujian's passage, said the measures were taken to "maintain full awareness" of the carrier's movements and that it had "responded appropriately."

The Fujian's transit was first disclosed Thursday by Japan's Ministry of Defense, whose Joint Staff Office reported that at around 1 p.m. that day, the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force spotted the Fujian sailing southwest in waters about 200 kilometers northwest of the Diaoyutai (Senkaku) Islands.

The carrier was accompanied by the guided-missile destroyers Hangzhou and Jinan, according to the Joint Staff Office.

China's state-run Xinhua News Agency reported Friday that the Fujian had recently passed through the Taiwan Strait to "carry out scientific research tests and training missions" in the South China Sea.

Citing Senior Captain Leng Guowei (冷國偉), a spokesperson for the People's Liberation Army Navy, the report said the tests and training were "not aimed at any specific target," but regular arrangements in the carrier's construction process.

Launched in 2022, the Fujian, China's third aircraft carrier after the Liaoning and the Shandong, is still undergoing sea trials and is expected to enter service later this year, according to a report by the local Chinese-language newspaper Liberty Times.