The incident is the latest in a series of military drills undertaken by the superpower around the island, which analysts believe are partially motivated by irritation on the part of Beijing at recently elected Taiwanese leader Tsai Ing-Wen’s push for formal independence.
Taiwan’s Defence Ministry said a group of Chinese ships led by the Liaoning aircraft carrier – China’s only operational vessel of this type – entered the southwestern part of the Taiwan Strait in the early hours of Tuesday, though it stayed on the Chinese side of the waterway.
As of midday today, the carrier group had left Taiwan’s Air Defence Identification Zone heading north, the ministry said, adding it had monitored the group’s movements throughout.
The statement said: “While the group was passing through the Taiwan Strait there were no abnormal activities, and people can rest easy.”
China’s Defence Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but the Soviet-era Liaoning, China’s first aircraft carrier, has passed through the Taiwan Strait before on its way to and from exercises in the South China Sea.
While heavily travelled by commercial shipping and flights, the Taiwan Strait, which is just 80 miles wide at its narrowest, is also a sensitive military zone.
In December, Mrs Tsai, who was elected as Taiwan’s President two years ago as the candidate of the pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party, said China’s frequent air and naval drills showed “its intentions for military expansion in the region are getting more and more obvious”.
She warned growing military pressure from mainland China was not just a situation facing Taiwan, but for all countries in the region.
Following her election victory, Mrs Tsai invoked the wrath of Beijing by refusing to accept the so-called 1992 Consensus, which stresses that mainland Taiwan and China are part of “one China”, with the mainland cutting off channels of communication with her administration.
And earlier this month, Taiwan complained about China launching a new air route for civilian flights which runs close to two groups of Taiwan-controlled islands off the Chinese coast in the strait, saying it threatened regional security and aviation safety.
China does not need Taiwan’s permission to open new air routes, a government spokesman said today (Wednesday), denying there was a safety risk.
Taiwan said on Friday the new flight path was so close to the middle line of the Taiwan Strait it would affect Taiwan air force exercises and other flight operations.
A Taiwan official, referring to other connecting routes that China has opened and where Taiwan civilian flights already operate, said: “The planes can come very close to each other.
“It becomes a very dangerous situation if we do not consult with each other.”