China's sole aircraft carrier conducted drills in the South China Sea, the navy said, days after neighbouring Taiwan said the carrier and accompanying ships had passed 90 nautical miles south of the island amid renewed tension between the two sides.
The Soviet-built Liaoning aircraft carrier and accompanying warships sailed round the east coast of Taiwan in what China called a routine exercise complying with international law.
The carrier's J-15 fighters conducted flight exercises in "complex sea conditions" on Monday, the People's Liberation Army Navy said on its official microblog late the same day.
The carrier group also ran helicopter exercises, it said, but did not give details on the exact location.
Last week, a group of Chinese warships led by the country's sole aircraft carrier entered the top half of the South China Sea on Monday after passing south of Taiwan, the self-ruled island's Defence Ministry said of what China had then termed as a routine exercise.
The move comes amid renewed tension over Taiwan, which Beijing claims as its own, ineligible for state-to-state relations, following US President-elect Donald Trump's telephone call with the island's president that upset Beijing.
The Soviet-built Liaoning aircraft carrier has taken part in previous exercises, including some in the South China Sea, but China is years away from perfecting carrier operations similar to those the United States has practised for decades.
Taiwan's Defence Ministry said the carrier, accompanied by five vessels, passed southeast of the Pratas Islands, which are controlled by Taiwan, heading southwest.
“Staying vigilant and flexible has always been the normal method of maintaining airspace security,” said ministry spokesman Chen Chung-chi, declining to say whether Taiwan fighter jets were scrambled or if submarines had been deployed.
The US State Department on Monday said its position has not changed since July, when it said it was continuing to monitor China's military modernisation and that it expects nations conducting defence exercises to comply with the law. Representatives for the Pentagon declined to comment.
Hope Hicks, a spokeswoman for Trump, said the incoming team had no comment on China's move.
In Beijing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said people should not read too much into what the carrier was up to, as its movements were within the law.
(With inputs from Reuters.)
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