China’s 1st aircraft carrier sails into disputed sea

By Fuat Kabakci

BEIJING

Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense said Monday that China's first aircraft carrier has passed south of the island territory and sailed into the disputed South China Sea.

The ministry said the Liaoning and accompanying warships were spotted sailing in a southwesterly direction southeast of the Dongsha Islands in the afternoon, Taiwan’s Central News Agency reported.

The Dongsha Islands -- also known as the Pratas -- are claimed by both China and Taiwan, which Beijing considers a breakaway province.

Earlier Monday, both Taiwan and Japan said they were closely monitoring the Chinese naval fleet as it headed for the Western Pacific to conduct military exercises.

The Japanese government’s top spokesman, Yoshihide Suga, was quoted by Kyodo news agency as telling reporters that the movement "a show of expansion of the abilities of China's naval forces".

While Taipei’s Ministry of National Defense did not disclose details about reconnaissance missions launched by its air force, local media reported that two F-16 jets and two RF-16 reconnaissance aircraft were scrambled from an air base in the island’s east.

In recent weeks, the Liaoning had conducted training -- including its first live-fire exercise earlier this month -- in the Yellow Sea, the Bohai Sea and East China Sea.

The Liaoning is a refitted Russian-made carrier delivered from Ukraine to China’s People's Liberation Army in September 2012.

In January, the national defense ministry announced that China is designing and building its second aircraft carrier, a 50,000-ton carrier that would be entirely of independent Chinese design and powered conventionally rather than by nuclear energy.

China has been modernizing its naval capacity at a time when the United States and its allies -- including Japan -- are expressing alarm at its maritime expansion, which they suspect is aimed at extending its military reach.

China has conflicting claims to parts of the South China Sea with several countries in Southeast Asia, and to an island chain in the East China Sea with Japan.