USNI News:

China deployed an aircraft carrier strike group off Taiwan’s east coast, military officials in Taipei and Tokyo confirmed Thursday.

The People’s Liberation Army Navy Shandong Carrier Strike Group (CSG) deployment began Wednesday, the same day Taiwan’s president met with U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy in California.

The carrier strike group is now operating off Taiwan’s east coast after transiting the Bashi channel on Wednesday in its first training voyage in the Western Pacific.

CNS Shandong (17), its embarked air wing and its escorts passed through the southeast waters of Taiwan to start its first training voyage in the Western Pacific,  Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense said Wednesday. The release added that both sea and air units along with ground-based radars detected and monitored the group’s movement.

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