TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The Ministry of National Defense (MND) on Thursday (Nov. 9) reported that China's Shandong aircraft carrier was detected navigating up the median line of the Taiwan Strait.

In a statement issued at 10 a.m., the MND said starting on Wednesday afternoon (Nov. 8), the Shandong's carrier strike group sailed from south to north along the west side of the median line. As of 8 a.m. on Thursday, the strike group continued to head northward through the waters north of Taiwan.

The ministry added the military used joint intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance methods to assess the movements of the People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) vessels. It said it dispatched military assets to monitor and respond accordingly.

The Joint Staff of Japan's Ministry of Defense (MOD) on Monday (Nov. 6) announced that the Shandong conducted a nine-day training exercise from Oct. 28 to Nov. 5. Carrier-based aircraft took off and landed about 420 times, while helicopters took off and landed about 150 times, bringing total carrier-based sorites to 570.