China warships near Penghu
- Taiwan’s defense ministry said on April 28 it tracked two Chinese warships southwest of the Penghu Islands and sent naval and air forces to monitor. - The vessels were identified as a Luyang II-class guided-missile destroyer and a Jiangkai II-class guided-missile frigate near major Taiwanese bases in Penghu. - The sighting followed a Chinese carrier transit in the Taiwan Strait a week earlier, extending pressure around Taiwan. (stripes.com)
Taiwan said on April 28 that two Chinese warships entered waters southwest of the Penghu Islands, prompting Taipei to send naval and air forces to track them. (usnews.com) (focustaiwan.tw) Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense identified the ships as a Luyang II-class guided-missile destroyer and a Jiangkai II-class guided-missile frigate. It released photos late on April 28 and said the military had maintained close surveillance and responded appropriately. (focustaiwan.tw) (taiwannews.com.tw) Penghu sits in the Taiwan Strait west of Taiwan’s main island and hosts major Taiwanese navy and air force bases. The reported Chinese approach put the vessels close to the Taiwan side of the strait rather than near China’s coast. (taipeitimes.com) (usnews.com) Taiwan’s defense ministry rarely gives specific public locations for Chinese warships unless the movement is unusual, according to the Reuters report carried by Taipei Times and U.S. News. That made the Penghu disclosure stand out from Taipei’s routine daily tallies of aircraft and vessels around the island. (taipeitimes.com) (usnews.com) The sighting came one week after Taiwan reported that China’s aircraft carrier Liaoning had sailed through the Taiwan Strait, the first such carrier passage there since December. Taiwan said at the time it had monitored the transit with joint intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance assets. (stripes.com) Taiwan has also continued to report near-daily Chinese military activity around the island. On April 29, media reports citing Taiwan’s military said 10 Chinese aircraft, 11 vessels and one official ship were detected in the latest 24-hour window, with nine aircraft crossing the median line. (newsable.asianetnews.com) Beijing has not publicly explained the Penghu operation in the reports reviewed. China says its military activity around Taiwan is justified, while Taiwan’s government rejects Beijing’s sovereignty claim and says only the island’s people can decide their future. (focustaiwan.tw) (usnews.com) For now, the clearest fact is narrow and concrete: two Chinese warships moved into waters southwest of Penghu on April 28, and Taiwan treated the approach as serious enough to publicly call out and shadow. (focustaiwan.tw) (taipeitimes.com)
