Chinese aircraft carrier detected near Taiwan waters

Taiwan's Defense Ministry said Sunday it was "on alert" after a Chinese aircraft carrier was detected to the south of the island.

The incident comes three days after Taiwan's president angered Beijing during a speech to mark the self-ruled island's National Day.

China considers Taiwan as part of its territory and tensions between the two have spiked in recent years over the near-constant deployment of Chinese ships to waters near the island.

What did Taiwan say about the latest Chinese maneuver?

"China's Liaoning aircraft carrier group has entered waters near the Bashi Channel and is likely to proceed into the western Pacific," the Defense Ministry said in a statement.

The Bashi Channel connects the South China Sea and the Pacific and separates Taiwan from the Philippines.

"The Taiwanese military is employing joint intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance systems to closely monitor related activities and remains on alert, prepared to respond as necessary," the ministry added.

The maneuver came hours after China's military put out a propaganda video on social media entitled "Fully prepared and biding one's time before battle."

The footage showed Chinese fighter jets and warships operating together, mobile missile launchers being moved into place and amphibious assault vehicles.

Speech by Taiwanese president ruffles feathers in Beijing

During his National Day speech, Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te vowed to "resist annexation" of the island, and insisted Beijing and Taipei were "not subordinate to each other."

Lai said China had no right to represent Taiwan, but that the island was willing to work with Beijing to combat challenges like climate change.

The speech struck both a firm and conciliatory tone but drew anger from Beijing, which labels Lai as a "separatist."

China warned after the speech that Lai's "provocations" would result in "disaster" for the people of Taiwan.

Lai and his government reject Beijing's sovereignty claims, but he has repeatedly offered talks with Beijing, which have been rebuffed.

Brief history of Taiwan

The dispute between China and Taiwan dates back to a civil war in which the nationalist forces of Chiang Kai-shek were defeated by Mao Zedong's communist fighters and fled to Taiwan in 1949.

While Taiwan has its own government, military and currency, it has never declared formal independence from mainland China.

China has not ruled out using force to retake Taiwan and Beijing has sought to erase Taipei from the international stage, blocking it from global forums and poaching its diplomatic allies.

China has held three rounds of large-scale war games in the past two years, deploying aircraft and ships to encircle the island.

In May, Beijing ran large-scale "punishment" drills nearby, after Lai's inauguration.

mm/nm (AFP, Reuters)