Chinese carriers in Pacific show country's 'expansionist' aims, Taiwan says
TAIPEI: The two Chinese aircraft carriers spotted conducting simultaneous operations in the Pacific for the first time send a political message about the country's "expansionist" aims, Taiwan Defence Minister Wellington Koo said on Wednesday (Jun 11).
Japan's defence minister said the previous day that the appearance of the Chinese aircraft carriers signified Beijing's intention to further widen its capabilities beyond its borders.
Koo said the armed forces had a "full grasp" of the carriers' movements.
"Crossing from the first island chain into the second island chain sends a definite political message and their expansionist nature can be seen," he told reporters in Taipei.
The first island chain refers to an area that runs from Japan down to Taiwan, the Philippines and Borneo, while the second island chain spreads further out into the Pacific to include places like the US territory of Guam.
China's navy, which has been honing its abilities to operate further and further from the country's coast, said on Tuesday the carrier operations were a "routine training" exercise that did not target specific countries or regions.
Taiwan, which China views as its own territory, keeps a close watch on Chinese military movements given the regular drills and war games Beijing stages around the island.
Since May, China has been flexing its muscles by sending an unusually large number of naval and coast guard vessels through a swathe of East Asian waters, according to security documents and officials, in moves that have unnerved regional capitals.
Japan's defence ministry confirmed the two carriers, Liaoning and Shandong, were operating in separate areas in the Pacific on Saturday, both near remote southern islands belonging to Japan.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Business Times
3 hours ago
- Business Times
Trump says ‘getting along well' with China, downplays hostile acts
[WASHINGTON] President Donald Trump on Sunday dismissed the importance of aggressive actions linked to Beijing including recent arrests of two Chinese nationals accused of smuggling a dangerous pathogen into the United States, saying 'that's the way the world works.' Trump told Fox News that Washington behaves in a similar way. 'You don't think we do that to them? We do, we do a lot of things,' he said on the Sunday Morning Futures with Maria Bartiromo show. 'That's the way the world works. It's a nasty world.' Trump was responding to a question about how he viewed Chinese intellectual property theft, hacking of the US telecoms system and controversy around the Covid-19 pandemic. He likewise dismissed concerns over a case in which two Chinese nationals were accused last month of smuggling in a toxic fungus. BT in your inbox Start and end each day with the latest news stories and analyses delivered straight to your inbox. Sign Up Sign Up Yunqing Jian, 33, and Zunyong Liu, 34, are charged with conspiracy, smuggling, false statements, and visa fraud. The US Justice Department said the pair conspired to smuggle into the United States a fungus called Fusarium graminearum that causes 'head blight,' a disease of wheat, barley, maize and rice. Trump downplayed this saying, 'you don't know where that came from, though. I mean, did that come from the country, or is that three wackos that happened to carry something?' Referring to the ongoing US-China trade war, Trump appeared to signal he was satisfied, saying 'We're getting along well with China.' He added: 'I think getting along with China is a very good thing, but they are paying substantial tariffs.' This past week, the White House signalled trade progress with China with an official saying both sides have reached an understanding on issues including expediting rare earth shipments to the United States. After talks in Geneva in May, Washington and Beijing agreed to temporarily lower steep tit-for-tat tariffs on each other's products. AFP
Business Times
3 hours ago
- Business Times
Trump says there's a buyer for TikTok but won't divulge name
[WASHINGTON] US President Donald Trump said he has identified a buyer for the US operations of the TikTok social media app owned by Chinese company ByteDance, but he will not provide details for two weeks. 'We have a buyer for TikTok, by the way. I think I will need probably China approval and I think President Xi will probably do it,' he said, referring to Chinese leader Xi Jinping, in an interview on Fox News's Sunday Morning Futures with Maria Bartiromo. 'It's a group of very wealthy people.' The interview, which aired on Sunday (Jun 29), was taped on Friday. Trump earlier said he would extend for the third time a deadline for Bytedance to sell the US portions of TikTok, which would give the company 90 days beyond Jun 19. Congress passed a law last year requiring the divestiture, citing national security concerns. Under the law, the president was allowed to invoke one extension. Movement on a deal has largely stalled with US-China trade relations swept up in larger tensions over tariff negotiations. Before Trump announced widespread tariffs in April, a deal was reportedly close, advanced by a consortium of US investors including Oracle, Blackstone and venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz. The White House did not respond to a request for more details on Trump's latest remarks. BLOOMBERG
Straits Times
7 hours ago
- Straits Times
Trump says ‘getting along well' with China, downplays apparent hostile acts
US President Donald Trump says the US is getting along well with China, even though "they are paying substantial tariffs". PHOTO: AFP Trump says 'getting along well' with China, downplays apparent hostile acts WASHINGTON - US President Donald Trump on June 29 dismissed the importance of actions linked to Beijing that are deemed to be aggressive , including recent arrests of two Chinese nationals accused of smuggling a dangerous pathogen into the United States, saying 'that's the way the world works.' Mr Trump told Fox News that Washington behaves in a similar way. 'You don't think we do that to them? We do, we do a lot of things,' he said on the Sunday Morning Futures with Maria Bartiromo show. 'That's the way the world works. It's a nasty world.' Mr Trump was responding to a question about how he viewed Chinese intellectual property theft, hacking of the US telecoms system and controversy around the Covid-19 pandemic. He likewise dismissed concerns over a case in which two Chinese nationals were accused in June of smuggling in a toxic fungus. Yunqing Jian, 33, and Zunyong Liu, 34, are charged with conspiracy, smuggling, false statements, and visa fraud. The US Justice Department said the pair conspired to smuggle into the United States a fungus called Fusarium graminearum that causes 'head blight,' a disease of wheat, barley, maize, and rice. Mr Trump downplayed this saying, 'you don't know where that came from, though. I mean, did that come from the country, or is that three wackos that happened to carry something?' Referring to the ongoing US-China trade war, Mr Trump appeared to signal he was satisfied, saying 'We're getting along well with China.' He added: 'I think getting along with China is a very good thing, but they are paying substantial tariffs.' This past week the White House signalled trade progress with China, with an official saying both sides have reached an understanding on issues including expediting rare earth shipments to the United States. After talks in Geneva in May, Washington and Beijing agreed to temporarily lower steep tit-for-tat tariffs on each other's products. AFP Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
