Over the past few hours, the Liaoning (CV-16) aircraft carrier strike group of the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) was spotted near the Taiwan Strait, as reported by the island’s Ministry of Defense on social media. It is worth noting that last week the CV-16 participated in China’s Joint Sword B exercise around Taiwan.
According to Taiwanese authorities, the Liaoning aircraft carrier, which is conducting its first navigation tests after completing modernization work, was observed near the Dongsha Islands close to the Strait on Tuesday.
The latest activities of the CV-16 were detected on October 13 near the Bashi Channel, as it continued toward the Western Pacific Ocean. A day later, during the Joint Sword B exercise, it was seen operating outside Taiwan’s Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) southeast of the island.
In this context, the few circulating images showed the Liaoning operating with Shenyang J-15 fighter jets belonging to the embarked air group. Additionally, according to official sources, the aircraft carrier played a strategic role by forming a maritime barrier and establishing an external blockade while exerting internal pressure on Taiwan’s secessionist movements.
For analysts, unlike the exercise conducted in May, this version of Joint Sword not only demonstrated the rapid deployment capabilities of Chinese forces but also their ability to deploy various assets to achieve air and maritime superiority, isolating Taiwan from different directions.
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