TAIPEI (Reuters) - Taiwan scrambled jets and navy ships on Wednesday as a group of Chinese warships, led by its sole aircraft carrier, sailed through the Taiwan Strait, the latest sign of heightened tension between Beijing and the self-ruled island.

China’s Soviet-built Liaoning aircraft carrier, returning from exercises in the South China Sea, was not encroaching in Taiwan’s territorial waters but entered its air defense identification zone in the southwest, Taiwan’s defense ministry said.

As a result, Taiwan scrambled jets and navy ships to “surveil and control” the passage of the Chinese ships north through the body of water separating Taiwan and China, Taiwan defense ministry spokesman Chen Chung-chi said.

Taiwan military aircraft and ships have been deployed to follow the carrier group, which is sailing up the west side of the median line of the strait, he said.

Taiwan’s top policymaker for China affairs urged Beijing to resume dialogue, after official communication channels were suspended by Beijing from June.

“I want to emphasize our government has sufficient capability to protect our national security. It’s not necessary to overly panic,” said Chang Hsiao-yueh, minister for Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council, during a news briefing in response to reporters’ questions on the Liaoning.

“On the other hand, any threats would not benefit cross-Strait ties,” she said.

China has said the Liaoning was on an exercise to test weapons and equipment in the disputed South China Sea and its movements complied with international law.

On the weekend, a Chinese bomber flew around the Spratly Islands in a show of “strategic force”, a U.S. official said on Tuesday.

The latest Chinese exercises have unnerved Beijing’s neighbors, especially Taiwan which Beijing claims as its own, given long-running territorial disputes in the South China Sea.

Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Liu Zhenmin said China’s ships “couldn’t always remain in port” and the navy had to hone its capabilities.

“The Taiwan Strait is an international waterway shared between the mainland and Taiwan. So, it is normal for the Liaoning to go back and forth through the Taiwan Strait in the course of training, and it won’t have any impact on cross-Strait relations,” Liu said at a briefing on Asia-Pacific security.

China claims most of the energy-rich waters of the South China Sea, through which about $5 trillion in ship-borne trade passes every year. Neighbors Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam also have claims.

China distrusts Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen and has stepped up pressure on her after U.S. President-elect Donald Trump broke years of diplomatic protocol and took a congratulatory call last month from her.

Trump then riled China by casting doubt on the “one China” policy that Beijing regards as the basis of U.S.-Chinese relations.

Tsai drew anger from China again when she met senior U.S. Republican lawmakers in Houston on Sunday en route to Central America, in a transit stop that Beijing had asked the United States to not allow.

FILE PHOTO: China's Liaoning aircraft carrier with accompanying fleet conducts a drill in an area of South China Sea, in this undated photo taken December, 2016. REUTERS/Stringer/File photo

Beijing suspects Tsai wants to push for the island’s formal independence, a red line for the mainland, which has never renounced the use of force to bring what it deems a renegade province under its control.

Tsai says she wants to maintain peace with China.</s>Taiwan scrambled jets and navy ships on Wednesday as a group of Chinese warships led by China's sole aircraft carrier sailed north through the Taiwan Strait, the latest sign of heightened tensions between Beijing and the self-ruled Taiwan.

The Soviet-built Liaoning aircraft carrier, returning from exercises in the South China Sea, was not trespassing in Taiwan's territorial waters but entered its air defence identification zone (ADIZ) in the southwest, Taiwan's defence ministry said.

As a result Taiwan scrambled jets and navy ships to "surveil and control" the passage of the Chinese ships through the narrow body of water separating Taiwan and China, Taiwan defence ministry spokesman Chen Chung-chi said.

Taiwanese military aircraft and ships have been deployed to follow the carrier group, which is sailing up the west side of the median line of the strait, he said.</s>Taiwan scrambled jets and navy ships on Wednesday as a group of Chinese warships led by China's sole aircraft carrier sailed north through the Taiwan Strait, the latest sign of heightened tensions between Beijing and the self-ruled Taiwan.

[TAIPEI] Taiwan scrambled jets and navy ships on Wednesday as a group of Chinese warships led by China's sole aircraft carrier sailed north through the Taiwan Strait, the latest sign of heightened tensions between Beijing and the self-ruled Taiwan.

The Soviet-built Liaoning aircraft carrier, returning from exercises in the South China Sea, was not trespassing in Taiwan's territorial waters but entered its air defence identification zone (ADIZ) in the south-west, Taiwan's defence ministry said.

As a result Taiwan scrambled jets and navy ships to "surveil and control" the passage of the Chinese ships through the narrow body of water separating Taiwan and China.

"We have full grasp of its movements," Taiwan defence ministry spokesman Chen Chung-Chi said.

Taiwanese military aircraft and ships have been deployed to follow the carrier group, which is sailing up the west side of the median line of the strait. he said.

China has said the Liaoning aircraft carrier was on drills to test weapons and equipment in the disputed South China Sea and its movements comply with international law.

The latest Chinese naval exercises have unnerved Beijing's neighbours, especially Taiwan which Beijing claims as its own, given long-running territorial disputes in the South China Sea.

China claims most of the energy-rich waters of the South China Sea, through which about US$5 trillion in ship-borne trade passes every year. Neighbours Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam also have claims.

China distrusts Taiwan President Tsai Ing-Wen and has stepped up pressure on her following a protocol-breaking, congratulatory telephone call between her and US President-elect Donald Trump last month.

Beijing suspects Ms Tsai wants to push for the island's formal independence, a red line for the mainland, which has never renounced the use of force to bring what it deems a renegade province under its control.

Ms Tsai says she wants to maintain peace with China.</s>Taiwan has scrambled jets and navy ships as a group of Chinese warships led by China's sole aircraft carrier sailed north through the Taiwan Strait, the latest sign of heightened tensions between Beijing and the self-ruled Taiwan.

The Soviet-built Liaoning aircraft carrier, returning from exercises in the South China Sea, was not trespassing in Taiwan's territorial waters but entered its air defence identification zone (ADIZ) in the southwest, Taiwan's defence ministry said.

As a result Taiwan scrambled jets and navy ships to "surveil and control" the passage of the Chinese ships through the narrow body of water separating Taiwan and China, Taiwan defence ministry spokesman Chen Chung-chi said.

Taiwanese military aircraft and ships have been deployed to follow the carrier group, which is sailing up the west side of the median line of the strait, he said.

Taiwan's top policymaker for China affairs urged Beijing to resume dialogue with Taipei, after official communication channels were halted by Beijing from June.

"I want to emphasise our Government has sufficient capability to protect our national security. It's not necessary to overly panic," said Chang Hsiao-yueh, Minister for Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council, during a news briefing in response to reporters' questions on the Liaoning's movements.

"On the other hand, any threats would not benefit cross-Strait ties," she said.

China has said the Liaoning aircraft carrier was on drills to test weapons and equipment in the disputed South China Sea and its movements comply with international law.

President Tsai draws anger from China over US stopover

On the weekend, a Chinese bomber flew around the Spratly Islands in a show of "strategic force", a US official said on Tuesday.

The latest Chinese naval exercises have unnerved Beijing's neighbours, especially Taiwan which Beijing claims as its own, given long-running territorial disputes in the South China Sea.

China claims most of the energy-rich waters of the South China Sea, through which about $US5 trillion in ship-borne trade passes every year. Neighbours Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam also have claims.

China distrusts Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen and has stepped up pressure on her after US President-elect Donald Trump broke years of diplomatic protocol and took a congratulatory call last month from Ms Tsai.

Trump then riled China by casting doubt on the "one China" policy that Beijing regards as the basis of US-Chinese relations.

Ms Tsai drew anger from China again when she met senior US Republican lawmakers in Houston on Sunday en route to Central America, in a controversial transit stop that Beijing had asked the US to not allow.

Beijing suspects Ms Tsai wants to push for the island's formal independence, a red line for the mainland, which has never renounced the use of force to bring what it deems a renegade province under its control.

Ms Tsai says she wants to maintain peace with China.</s>Taiwan scrambled jets Wednesday as China's sole aircraft carrier led Chinese warships through the Taiwan Strait amid heightened tensions between the mainland and self-governing island it claims as its own territory, Reuters reported.

A ministry statement said the Liaoning was traveling northwest along the center line dividing the strait, along with its battle group.

It said the military was closely monitoring the vessels' passage and urged the public not to be alarmed. Taiwan regularly dispatches planes and ships to keep a watchful eye on Chinese forces' movements around the island, although the ministry statement gave no details about the military's response.

The carrier was on its way back from its first journey to the Western Pacific, where it carried out a training exercise.

Based on a Soviet-built platform and commissioned in 2012, the Liaoning earlier this month carried out what Beijing called routine combat drills in the South China Sea which Beijing claims almost in its entirety and has fortified with man-made islands. That followed China's November declaration that the carrier and its complement of J-15 fighter jets was combat ready, setting off jitters in an already tense region.

The Liaoning set off for the Western Pacific last month, passing through the Miyako Strait, south of Okinawa, and then the Bashi Channel separating Taiwan from the Philippines as it entered the South China Sea.

Japanese and Taiwanese surveillance aircraft and ships closely monitored the Liaoning along its journey, seen by some as a sign of how China plans to use the carrier to demonstrate its willingness to back up its territorial claims with military muscle.

China and Taiwan split amid civil war in 1949 and Beijing has never renounced its threat to use force if it considers that necessary to prevent the island's permanent independence from the mainland.

Relations between the sides have deteriorated badly since Taiwanese elected independence-leaning President Tsai Ing-wen last year, and Chinese officials have warned of more turbulence ahead unless she endorses Beijing's view that Taiwan is part of China.

China has been steadily ratcheting-up the economic and political pressure on Tsai, discouraging Chinese tourists from visiting the island of 23 million and intervening to prevent its participation in international forums. That has fueled speculation that Beijing will seek to win away more of the island's dwindling number of diplomatic allies, which now stand at just 21.

"Looking ahead in 2017, the development of cross-strait relations faces increased levels of uncertainty and the challenge of risk has risen," Ma Xiaoguang, spokesman for the Cabinet's Taiwan Affairs Office, told reporters at a bi-weekly briefing on Wednesday.

Ma said he had no information on the Liaoning's passage through the Taiwan Strait and referred questions on the matter to the Defense Ministry, which did not immediately respond.

Having been thoroughly overhauled in China, the Liaoning represents a new degree of sophistication in the Chinese armed forces that includes ballistic missile submarines and prototype stealth fighters.

China announced in 2015 that it was building additional carriers entirely with domestic technology.

The Associated Press contributed to this report</s>Taiwan scrambled jets Wednesday as China’s sole aircraft carrier led Chinese warships through the Taiwan Strait with all eyes on Russia, a U.S. defense official confirmed to Fox News.

It was the second time China sailed the aircraft carrier, the Liaoning, through the strait in the past few weeks, with tensions between Beijing and Taiwan escalating. The carrier was traveling northwest along the center line dividing the strait, along with its battle group.

It came a few days after China flew another nuclear-capable H-6 bomber down to a set of contested islands in a show of force. The bomber flew around the Spratly Islands on Sunday.

Taiwan’s military was closely monitoring the ships’ passage and urged the public not to be alarmed. Taiwan regularly dispatches planes and ships to keep a watchful eye on Chinese forces’ movements around the island, although the military gave no details about its specific response.

The heavily trafficked 100-mile-wide Taiwan Strait separates Taiwan from southeastern China. The carrier was on its way back from its first journey to the Western Pacific, where it carried out a training exercise, Reuters reported.

Based on a Soviet-built platform and commissioned in 2012, the Liaoning earlier this month carried out what Beijing called routine combat drills in the South China Sea. China has fortified the area with seven man-made islands, some containing runways and coastal defenses.

China declared in November that the carrier and its complement of J-15 fighter jets were combat-ready, setting off jitters in an already tense region.

The Liaoning set off for the Western Pacific last month, passing through the Miyako Strait, south of Okinawa, and then the Bashi Channel separating Taiwan from the Philippines as it entered the South China Sea.

Japanese and Taiwanese surveillance aircraft and ships closely monitored the Liaoning along its journey, seen by some as a sign of how China plans to use the carrier to demonstrate its willingness to back up its territorial claims with military muscle.

China and Taiwan split amid civil war in 1949 and Beijing has never renounced its threat to use force if it considers that necessary to prevent the island’s permanent independence from the mainland.

Relations between the sides have deteriorated badly since Taiwanese elected independence-leaning President Tsai Ing-wen last year, and Chinese officials have warned of more turbulence ahead unless she endorses Beijing’s view that Taiwan is part of China.

China has been steadily ratcheting-up the economic and political pressure on Tsai, discouraging Chinese tourists from visiting the island of 23 million and intervening to prevent its participation in international forums. That has fueled speculation that Beijing will seek to win away more of the island’s dwindling number of diplomatic allies, which now stand at just 21.

“Looking ahead in 2017, the development of cross-strait relations faces increased levels of uncertainty and the challenge of risk has risen,” Ma Xiaoguang, spokesman for the Cabinet’s Taiwan Affairs Office, told reporters at a bi-weekly briefing on Wednesday.

Ma said he had no information on the Liaoning’s passage through the Taiwan Strait and referred questions on the matter to the Defense Ministry, which did not immediately respond.

Having been thoroughly overhauled in China, the Liaoning represents a new degree of sophistication in the Chinese armed forces that includes ballistic missile submarines and prototype stealth fighters.

China announced in 2015 that it was building additional carriers entirely with domestic technology.

Fox News’ Lucas Tomlinson and The Associated Press contributed to this report.</s>Taiwan scrambled its jets and navy ships on Wednesday (11 January) as a group of Chinese warships led by Beijing's sole aircraft carrier sailed north through the Taiwan Strait.

The move is the latest rumbling of heightened tensions between the two countries in a long-running dispute over the South China Sea.

China's Soviet-built Liaoning aircraft carrier had been returning from carrying out exercises in the area, but had not trespassed in Taiwan's territorial waters.

However, the carrier had entered Taiwan's air defence identification zone (ADIZ) in the southwest, the country's defence ministry said in a statement seen by Reuters.

As a result, Taiwan scrambled jets and navy ships to "surveil and control" the passage of the Chinese ships through the narrow body of water separating Taiwan and China.

"We have full grasp of its movements," Taiwan defense ministry spokesman Chen Chung-chi said.

China has said its aircraft carrier was on exercises to test weapons in the South China Sea. However, its movements had complied with international law.

"These latest drills provide our first insights into how China will likely be using their aircraft carrier in the near future," Eric Wertheim, author of Combat Fleets of the World, told the US Naval Institute News, according to the Associated Press (AP).

"Rather than extended power projection in far-off waters, the Chinese appear more likely to use the carrier, at least initially, as a demonstration of regional muscle – sending a message that they are willing to back up talk, policy, or rhetoric with a show of strength."

According to Reuters, China distrusts Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen and has stepped up pressure on her following a protocol-breaking, congratulatory telephone call between her and US President-elect Donald Trump.

Beijing suspects Tsai wants to push for the island's formal independence, a red line for the mainland, which has never renounced the use of force to bring what it deems a renegade province under its control. Tsai says she wants to maintain peace with China.</s>TAIPEI, Taiwan -- The military reportedly scrambled jets and navy ships to monitor the Chinese aircraft carrier Liaoning as it passed through the Taiwan Strait, Wednesday.

The Liaoning, leading a Chinese fleet, entered Taiwan's Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) from the southwest at 7:00 a.m. Wednesday and continued to sail north along the Taiwan Strait, apparently on their way back to China from the South China Sea after training exercises, the Ministry of National Defense (MND) said in a statement.

In response, the MND scrambled F-16 and IDF fighter jets, P-3C surveillance aircraft, and Navy frigates to monitor the Chinese fleet, according to sources cited by the Central News Agency (CNA). The MND neither confirmed nor denied the responsive action, according to the CNA.

The fleet passed through seas off Shantou city on the eastern coast of Guangdong province in Chinese Mainland, around noon, according to the MND, while Taiwan's armed forces were closely monitoring their movements

A national security source said military estimated that it may take 10 hours before the aircraft carrier and the warships escorting it exit the Taiwan Strait as the fleet returns to Qingdao.

The passage will mark the completion of a two-stage circumnavigation of Taiwan island by the Chinese fleet.

The Liaoning previously sailed south in the Pacific off Taiwan's eastern coast on Dec. 26 before entering the South China Sea for a training mission earlier this month.

The upcoming passage will mark the third time the aircraft carrier has transited the Taiwan Strait since its commission in September 2012. The previous two times occurred in November and December 2013.

The latest incident occurred at a sensitive time, with the move seen by local experts and lawmakers as a means of sending a warning to Taiwan with President Tsai Ing-wen currently in Central America.

In response, Presidential Office spokesman Alex Huang, who accompanied Tsai during her visit to Taiwan's four diplomatic allies, told reporters the president was keeping close tabs on the movements of Liaoning.

Tsai had telephoned Chen Chun-lin (陳俊麟), deputy secretary-general of the National Security Council and Defense Minister Feng shih-kuan (馮世寬) on Wednesday morning to learn the latest updates of the Chinese fleet and Taiwan military's responsive measures, Huang said.

Tsai called ordered her national security team to closely monitor the movements of the Chinese warships and asked the public to put their minds at rest, Huang said.</s>Taiwan on Wednesday deployed fighter jets, a surveillance aircraft and Navy frigates in response to the movement of China’s lone aircraft carrier into the Taiwan Straits, according to Taiwan’s state-run Central New Agency.

The Liaoning carrier and its flotilla of escorting frigates and destroyers were apparently on their way back to base in northeastern China from the South China Sea following training exercises, the agency reported.

 The Chinese vessels moved through waters off Shantou in the southeastern Chinese province of Guangdong early Wednesday morning and continued north, CNA reported, citing the defense ministry.

 The agency said the ships remained “west of the median line of the Taiwan Strait,” or closer to mainland China.</s>Taiwan’s Defense Ministry said Wednesday that China’s only aircraft carrier had transited the Taiwan Strait amid soaring tensions between Beijing and Taipei.

The ministry said the Liaoning carrier had passed through the 160 kilometer-wide (100-km-wide) waterway that separates Taiwan from southeastern China. It said the carrier, which was accompanied by warships, had not entered Taiwan’s territorial waters, but had ventured into the self-ruled island nation’s air defense identification zone.

The Defense Ministry urged calm, and local media reports said Taipei had dispatched fighter jets to monitor the warships.

“The military is monitoring the whole situation and will act as necessary. We urge Taiwan’s people to be at ease,” it said in a statement early Wednesday.

By midday, the ministry said the carrier was moving north along the mainland’s coast.

“There is currently no navy or air force activity out of the ordinary,” it said.

The carrier was returning from high-profile exercises in the disputed South China Sea, where it was testing weapons and maneuvers, to its home port in the northern city of Qingdao.

Last month, ahead of the drills in the South China Sea, the Liaoning, accompanied by three guided-missile destroyers and two frigates, cruised into the Western Pacific Ocean for the first time via the waterway between Okinawa and Miyako Island.

China has ramped up its military moves near Taiwan in recent weeks after a congratulatory phone call by Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen to U.S. President-elect Donald Trump and Tsai’s transit in recent days of through the United States threatened to upend decades of diplomatic status quo under the so-called one-China policy.

Beijing considers Taiwan a renegade province that must be brought back into the fold — by force, if necessary.

A Chinese spokesperson on Wednesday warned of “increasing uncertainties, risks and challenges” in relations with Taiwan in 2017, the state-run Xinhua News Agency reported.

“Taiwan saw major changes to its political landscape in 2016 and the cross-Strait situation became more complicated,” Ma Xiaoguang, with the State Council’s Taiwan Affairs Office, was quoted as saying.

Ma said that the changes last year show that “only by sticking to the 1992 consensus, which reflects the one-China principle, could cross-Strait ties see steady development and develop further, while destroying this political foundation would see a storm gather over the Strait.”

The show of force by Beijing has stoked concern in Tokyo and Taipei over China’s growing military might, and that it might use this to reinforce its claims to disputed territory.

China has reclaimed more than 1,280 hectares (3,200 acres) of land on seven features it occupies in the South China Sea’s disputed Spratly chain. The U.S. says the man-made islets give it long-term “civil-military” outposts from where it can project power.

The recent carrier drills are likely to put more muscle behind Beijing’s moves in the disputed South China Sea — and beyond.

According to a commentary Sunday in the Chinese state-run People’s Daily, the Chinese Communist Party’s official mouthpiece, the Liaoning will continue to operate deeper into the Pacific.

“The first island chain can no longer impact the Chinese military to any great extent. Crossing it has become the new normal, ” the commentary said in reference to a strategically important entryway into the Western Pacific that includes Japan’s Ryukyu Islands and Taiwan.

“The aircraft carrier is not an otaku,” it said, referring to a Japanese term whose original meaning has morphed in Chinese usage to mean shut-in, or hikikomori in Japanese. “It will sooner or later cross the second island chain (east of Japan) and reach the Eastern Pacific.”

The Soviet-built Liaoning, refurbished by China, was only described as having a “real combat capacity” by defense officials in November. It had previously been portrayed in Chinese media as a surface platform for tests and training.

The carrier, which was purchased as an incomplete hull from Ukraine in 1998, was commissioned in 2012.

China is also in the process of constructing its first indigenously built carrier. The Defense Ministry said in October that work was proceeding smoothly, with the hull having already been assembled.
Taiwan scrambles navy ships and jets as Chinese warships, led by the aircraft carrier Liaoning, sail through the Taiwan Strait following exercises in the South China Sea.