BEIJING — China’s newest aircraft carrier, the Fujian, sailed through the Taiwan Strait for the first time Friday as it conducts sea trials ahead of its commissioning, the Chinese navy said.
The navy said in a brief post on a social media platform that the carrier was en route to the South China Sea to carry out training and scientific experiments and that its activities were not aimed at targeting anyone. State-affiliated social media accounts quoted a military expert as saying the Taiwan Strait was the most reasonable and efficient route for the ship to reach the South China Sea.
Observers said the passage carries symbolic weight because the Taiwan Strait separates mainland China and the self-governing island of Taiwan, which Beijing regards as part of its territory. The U.S. and some allies periodically send warships through the strait to signal opposition to any attempt to resolve the dispute by force, and such transits are watched closely in Beijing and Taipei.
China’s defence ministry said the military had been placed on high alert last week after the Canadian frigate HMCS Quebec and the Australian destroyer HMAS Brisbane conducted a transit of the strait. China accused the two warships of provocative actions that increased security risks. Japan’s military said it first spotted the Fujian on Thursday afternoon.
The Chinese navy said the Fujian was sailing with two guided-missile destroyers and that the flotilla had been observed sailing southwest about 200 kilometres (125 miles) from the Senkaku Islands — known in China as the Diaoyu Islands — a remote group of islets claimed by both China and Japan. At the time, the carrier’s course was on a heading for the Taiwan Strait, the navy said.
Taiwan and China split at the end of the Chinese civil war in 1949, when the Nationalist government retreated to the island and set up its own administration. The United States does not maintain formal diplomatic recognition of Taiwan’s government but is a major supplier of defensive arms to the island and says any differences across the strait should be resolved peacefully and not by force.
Chinese officials have framed the Fujian’s voyage as routine and linked it to preparations for the carrier’s commissioning and to broader efforts to expand training and research at sea. International observers, regional governments and defence analysts monitor such movements for signs of shifts in Beijing’s posture toward Taiwan and neighboring maritime disputes.
The Fujian, which represents the latest addition to China’s expanding carrier fleet, has been under observation during a program of sea trials. China has been increasing naval patrols and exercises in contested waters in recent years, prompting responses from the U.S. and partners in the Asia-Pacific who say they are protecting freedom of navigation and regional security.
Beijing’s decision to publicize the Fujian’s transit and to underscore that it was not targeted at any party reflects a pattern of emphasizing routine military development while pushing back against what it describes as provocative foreign activity in nearby seas. Taipei, Washington and regional capitals have not indicated any immediate change to their forces’ deployments in response to the Fujian’s passage, but they continue to monitor military movements in the area closely.