- State department urges Beijing to abstain from actions that would jeopardise the self-ruled island’s security
- China’s newest aircraft carrier passed through Taiwan Strait on Thursday in latest show of force ahead of presidential election
South China Morning Post
Date: 27 Dec, 2019
By: Sarah Zheng
The US warned Beijing on Friday against trying to coerce Taiwan after China’s new aircraft carrier sailed through the Taiwan Strait in a show of strength that came two weeks before the island’s elections.
Taiwan’s defence ministry said on Thursday that the Shandong and accompanying frigates had sailed northwards though the Taiwan Strait.
The deteriorating relations between the mainland and the self-ruled island – which Beijing regards as part of its territory – have been a key issue in the campaign for the January 11 presidential and legislative elections.
On Friday the US State Department called on China to “abstain from coercion that would jeopardise the security, or the social or economic system, of the people [in] Taiwan”.
[FULL STORY]
