The Taiwan Department of Defense informed that two U.S. aircraft carrier groups entered the disputed South China Sea for training. Furthermore, the Taiwan media reported a new Chinese air force incursion at the top of the waterway including, a fearsome new electronic warfare jet.
Taiwan and The South China Sea are frequent areas of tension between the governments of the United States and China.
The U.S. Department of Defense said the two U.S. Navy Carrier Strike Groups, led by their flagships USS Carl Vinson and USS Abraham Lincoln, had begun operations in the South China Sea, Sunday.
The carrier groups will carry out exercises including anti-submarine warfare operations, air warfare operations, and maritime interdiction operations to strengthen combat readiness, it said in a statement.
The Department of Defense of the United States added that they would conduct the training following the international law in international waters.
All this happened after Taiwan reported a massive incursion of China’s air force in its air defense zone. Taiwanese fighters scrambled to warn away 39 aircraft.
Taiwan, which China claims its territory, has complained for more than a year of repeated missions by China’s air force near the democratically governed island. ADIZ, close to the Taiwan-controlled Pratas Islands.
China has yet to comment, but has previously said such missions are aimed at protecting its sovereignty and to prevent external interference in its sovereignty claims over democratically-governed Taiwan.
