China's aircraft carrier Shandong passed through the Taiwan Strait, the Taiwanese Ministry of National Defense announced on the 27th.
According to Taiwan's Central News Agency, the Taiwanese Ministry of National Defense reported that three Chinese warships, including the Shandong, passed through the Taiwan Strait around noon local time and moved northwest. In response, the Taiwanese military authorities deployed air force planes and warships to closely monitor the situation, the Ministry of National Defense explained.
The movement of the Shandong is interpreted as a possible response to the recent arrival in Taiwan of the first shipment of FIM-92 air defense missiles (Stinger missiles), part of $500 million (approximately 660 billion KRW) worth of weapons that the Biden administration in the United States intends to send to Taiwan via the 'fast track' process.
Regarding this weapons shipment, Mao Ning, spokesperson for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, warned at a regular briefing on the 26th that it was an "extremely wrong and very dangerous act," adding that China would "closely monitor the situation and firmly safeguard national sovereignty, security, and territorial integrity."
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