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.