TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — A single-day record of 20 Chinese naval vessels was detected around Taiwan on Tuesday (Sept. 12) and many are believed to be linking up with China's Shandong aircraft carrier.
On Tuesday, the Ministry of National Defense (MND) announced that it had detected 22 Chinese military aircraft and 20 naval vessels around Taiwan between 6 a.m. Monday (Sept. 11) and 6 a.m. Tuesday. The 20 People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) ships were the most tracked around Taiwan in a single day to date, reported RTI.
During a Tuesday press briefing, Major General Huang Wen-chi (黃文啓), who is with the Office of Deputy Chief of the General Staff on Intelligence, said July to September is the peak period for PLA training, including the conducting of naval exercises in the South China Sea, East China Sea, and Taiwan Strait. He also emphasized that the maritime threats that Taiwan faces not only come from the Shandong, but also the PLAN's various warships, coast guard vessels, and maritime law enforcement vessels.
Huang said that the military will closely monitor the situation with its intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance systems. Regarding the status of the Shandong, Huang emphasized that the MND always maintains very precise monitoring of its movements.
According to Huang, the Shandong does not yet possess full maritime strike capabilities because its command and control capabilities are limited. In addition, it has a ski-jump deck, which limits the payload and fuel capacity for launching and landing fighter jets.
Therefore, Taiwan's military is more concerned about the new domestically-built Fujian aircraft carrier, which features a flat deck, said Huang. However, the Shandong is still significant as it is China's first domestically-made aircraft carrier, and when combined with its new complement of surface ships has considerable combat capabilities.
Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force map shows movements of PLA ships on Monday. (JMSDF image)
On Monday morning, Japan’s Ministry of Defense reported that eight PLAN ships had passed through the Miyako Strait on their way to the Philippine Sea. It reported that the PLAN destroyers CNS Baotou (133), CNS Shaoxing (134), and CNS Ningbo (139) and frigates CNS Honghe (523) and CNS Yixing (537) had been detected heading southeast in a position about 140 miles northeast of Miyako Island.
In an area about 230 km northeast of Taisho Island, three more PLAN destroyers were detected heading south. The ships were identified as the CNS Fuzhou (137), CNS Zhengzhou (151), and CNS Xiamen (154).
USNI News reported that, "It is likely several, if not all, of the PLAN ships that transited the Miyako Strait on Monday, will link up with the carrier." China's state-run mouthpiece the Global Times on Tuesday cited a Beijing-based military expert as saying, "If the eight vessels from the East China Sea join forces with the carrier group in the West Pacific, they could form an unprecedently large carrier group consisting of more than a dozen warships."
Also on Monday, the MND issued a press release announcing that a naval formation led by the Shandong had passed 60 nautical miles southeast of Eluanbi, before heading to the east into the western Pacific to carry out air training. It said it responded by scrambling combat patrol aircraft, dispatching naval vessels, and deploying land-based air defense missile systems.
