Overview
- Taiwan said the Liaoning crossed the Taiwan Strait on Monday, marking the first Chinese carrier passage since December.
- Taiwan’s military reported 24 Chinese aircraft and seven warships in a 24-hour span around the transit, with 11 planes crossing the strait’s median line.
- China’s Eastern Theater Command said a naval group finished far-seas training and on Wednesday passed back through the Yonaguni–Iriomote Waterway, a channel between two Japanese islands near Okinawa.
- Beijing claims sovereignty over the Taiwan Strait, while Taipei and Washington say it is international waters that all ships may use.
- China denounced a Japanese destroyer’s April 17 transit as a deliberate provocation, signaling sharper friction with Tokyo over passages near Taiwan and Okinawa.