Taiwan deploys fighter jets as Chinese aircraft carrier enters its strait

New York [USA], Jan. 12 (ANI): Taiwan has reportedly deployed fighter jets, a surveillance aircraft and Navy frigates in response to the movement of China's lone aircraft carrier into the Taiwan Strait on Wednesday. The Liaoning, China's only aircraft carrier, entered the strait, part of Taiwan's air defense identification zone, after training exercises in the South China Sea. The Chinese vessels moved through waters off Shantou in the southeastern Chinese province of Guangdong early Wednesday morning and continued north, reports the CNN. Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen, who is on a Central American tour, has been briefed about the situation and requested that officials in Taipei closely monitor the movements of the Chinese vessels. Taiwan's response was the third time in three days that air forces in the region had scrambled jets in response to Chinese military activity, after Japan and South Korea deployed fighters on Monday. The development occurred after a squadron of six Chinese bombers and two other aircraft flew over the waters that separate Japan and South Korea and over the Sea of Japan. Also, the South China Sea is home to a string of territorial disputes. Tensions have ratcheted up as China has reclaimed land in massive dredging operations, turning sandbars into islands equipped with airfields, ports and lighthouses. Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam all dispute sovereignty of several island chains and nearby waters in the South China Sea -- with rival claims to the Chinese interpretation. (ANI)