According to Taiwanese media reports, the United States has deployed an aircraft carrier to the east of Taiwan ahead of a pivotal election that China has characterized as a decision between war or peace.
The aircraft carrier Carl Vinson’s voyage in Pacific waters near Taiwan is designed to act as a deterrent against China, which has told voters it must make the “right choice” or risk provoking a cross-strait conflict. Taiwanese defense experts said they had warned that there would be.
The deployment of the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier is aimed at “strategic precautions,” Shen Ming-shi and Su Ziyun of Taiwan’s National Defense and Security Research Institute told the Central News Agency (CNA).
According to a report by the Beijing-based South China Sea Strategic Situation Investigation Initiative, the aircraft carrier Carl Vinson was east of Taiwan after leaving the Philippines, where it had been training with the Philippine Navy.
Dr. Shen said the United States would be able to use the aircraft carrier group to closely monitor the movements of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) and respond in a timely manner to any possible actions.
Another Nimitz-class nuclear-powered supercarrier, the USS Ronald Reagan, has been stationed at Yokosuka Naval Base in Japan since November.
Dr. Lin Yingyu of Tamkang University told CNA that the aircraft carrier’s deployment was not only focused on monitoring PLA movements near Taiwan, but also on monitoring North Korea.
North Korea fired what appeared to be an intermediate-range ballistic missile into its eastern waters on Sunday, its first test launch of the year.
Voters in Taiwan on Saturday elected Lai Ching-de of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) as its new president, clearly rejecting Beijing’s territorial claims to the mainland.
The victory of the liberal Democratic Progressive Party, which defends Taiwan’s de facto sovereignty and independent identity, points to deep China skepticism among the population of 23.5 million people, the majority of whom reject Beijing’s demands for unification. There is.