A Chinese naval flotilla led by the country's first aircraft carrier passed by the eastern and southern coasts of Taiwan on Sunday to carry out drills, the island's Defense Ministry said, in the latest uptick in military tensions.
Democratically ruled Taiwan, claimed by China as its sacred territory, has complained of an increased Chinese military presence near the island in the past few weeks, and has told China is should be concentrating on fighting the new coronavirus rather than menacing the island.
Taiwan's Defense Ministry said the Liaoning, China's first operational aircraft carrier, and five accompanying warships passed first through the Miyako Strait, located between Japan's islands of Miyako and Okinawa, to the northeast of Taiwan, on Saturday.