BEIJING–China’s first aircraft carrier steered clear of the disputed Senkaku Islands now under the country’s newly designated air defense zone on the way to its maiden exercise in the high seas.
The 67,000-ton Liaoning left its home port of Qingdao, Shandong province, on Nov. 26, and entered the South China Sea through the Taiwan Strait on Nov. 28, according to the state-run Xinhua News Agency.
Observers were watching whether the ship would travel along the Chinese continent and through the Taiwan Strait or head for the Pacific Ocean across waters around Okinawa Prefecture.
If the Liaoning had passed near the Senkakus, administered by Japan as part of Okinawa but also claimed by China, it could have fueled tensions with Tokyo and Washington.
Four warships are accompanying the aircraft carrier for an extended exercise in the South China Sea, where China has territorial disputes with Vietnam and the Philippines.
“(The Liaoning’s route) has nothing to do with the regional situation,” Chinese defense ministry spokesman Yang Yujun told a news conference Nov. 28. “We ask you not to overstretch (the meaning of the route).”
Beijing’s designation of an air defense zone in the East China Sea on Nov. 23 has drawn sharp criticism from Tokyo and Washington as a unilateral attempt to undo the status quo.
U.S. bombers on Nov. 26 flew through China’s Air Defense Identification Zone without giving advance notice demanded by Chinese authorities.
According to Taiwan’s defense ministry, the Liaoning did not cross the median line between China and Taiwan when it navigated through the Taiwan Strait.
China aircraft carrier "avoids" Senkakus en route to training
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