For the first time, the Chinese navy appears to have simulated strikes by aircraft carrier-based warplanes on Taiwan, as military drills around the island entered their third day.
An aircraft of the Air Force under the Eastern Theatre Command of China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) takes part in a combat readiness patrol and “Joint Sword” exercises around Taiwan, at an undisclosed location in this handout image released on April 8, 2023. Eastern Theatre Command/Handout via REUTERS Read more
China announced the three days of drills on Saturday, after Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen returned to Taipei following a meeting in Los Angeles with U.S. House of Representative Speaker Kevin McCarthy.
Meanwhile, the Japan Joint Chiefs of Staff confirmed in a press release that Japanese forces had observed 80 fixed-wing aircraft take-offs and landings during the Chinese exercises from the Chinese aircraft carrier Shandong, which was in the Pacific Ocean east of Taiwan and about 230 kilometers (143 miles) south of the Japanese island of Miyako in Okinawa prefecture.
source MIIN