Taiwan monitors Chinese aircraft carrier as US House Speaker meets with Tsai Ing-wen

The Taiwanese government said it was keeping tabs on a Chinese aircraft carrier but that it does not expect any escalation in tensions in the region. The monitoring comes as Taiwanese leader Tsai Ing-wen met with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy in the US.

Taiwanese defense minister Chiu Kuo-cheng told reporters at parliament in the capital Taipei on Thursday that the Chinese aircraft carrier Shandong was spotted on Wednesday and was already 200 nautical miles off Taiwan’s east coast. Chiu said the timing of the aircraft carrier’s presence near the area is sensitive and that they were still monitoring the activity. Chiu also said that they have yet to see if any aircraft took off from its deck.

Chiu later told lawmakers that the ship was east of the southern tip of Taiwan and that it was being monitored by Taiwanese warships at a distance of five to six nautical miles. Chiu also noted that the US aircraft carrier USS Nimitz was around 400 nautical miles east of Taiwan.

The Japanese defense ministry said the Chinese aircraft carrier was made up of three vessels, including a frigate and a support ship. A Japanese warship was also tracking the activity of the Chinese carrier. The ministry also said this was the first time Japan saw the Shandong enter the Pacific.

China has previously sailed its aircraft carriers close to Taiwan and at similarly sensitive times. The Shandong sailed near the island in March last year through the contested Taiwan Strait, hours before Chinese President Xi Jinping and US President Joe Biden were set to talk. The latest sail by the Shandong near the island comes at a time when Tsai met with McCarthy during her stopover in California after her visit to Central America.

Tsai and McCarthy held their meeting at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley. The meeting makes McCarthy the highest-ranking US official to meet with a Taiwanese leader on US soil since 1979. A bipartisan group of lawmakers was present at the closed-door meeting, according to a statement from McCarthy’s office ahead of the visit.

During a joint press conference, McCarthy reaffirmed support for continuing dialogue with the democratically governed island that China claims as its territory. Taiwan has strong bipartisan support in a very divided US Congress.

“The friendship between the people of Taiwan and America is a matter of profound importance to the free world, and it is critical to maintain economic freedom, peace, and regional stability,” said McCarthy.