UPI
Date: Nov. 18, 2019
By: Elizabeth Shim

Nov. 18 (UPI) — A Chinese aircraft carrier that recently entered the Taiwan Strait could be deployed to guard the South China Sea, Chinese state media said Monday.

Chinese navy spokesman Cheng Dewei had said Beijing's first domestically developed aircraft carrier, the 002, recently entered the South China Sea for "scientific research tests and routine training." The presence of the carrier in the Taiwan strait is "normal practice," Cheng said.

Global Times said Monday the carrier is likely to be deployed to guard the South China Sea, where the country has been militarizing disputed islands.

Earlier on Sunday, Taiwan's defense ministry had said a cluster of Chinese ships, led by the carrier, had passed through the Taiwan Strait, less than a week after a U.S. guided missile cruiser, the Chancellorsville, had engaged in what the U.S. Navy described as a "routine" mission "in accordance with international law."    [FULL  STORY]