China's navy acknowledged Monday that its first domestically built aircraft carrier sailed through the Taiwan Strait a day earlier but said the move was not directed at any "specific target" and was instead part of "equipment tests and routine training" as it headed into the South China Sea.
A spokesman for the Chinese Navy said the sailing, part of ongoing sea trials, was a normal part of the process of building an aircraft carrier and had nothing to do with the current tensions between Beijing and Taipei, the official Xinhua News Agency reported.
During a meeting between Chinese Defense Minister Wei Fenghe and U.S. Secretary of Defense Mark Esper on Monday in Bangkok, Wei told Esper that Beijing would stick to "peacefully resolving the Taiwan question, but will not tolerate a major 'Taiwan secession' event, and that the U.S. should handle the issue with care," China's state-run Global Times reported.