J-15 fighter jets commence takeoffs from the aircraft carrier Shandong. Photo: Courtesy of Ding Zheng

The aircraft carrier Shandong of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) on Thursday made a transit in the Taiwan Straits immediately after having completed a far sea exercise in the West Pacific, in a move that observers said deters secessionists on the island of Taiwan and the external interference forces.

The PLA Navy Shandong carrier strike group sailed north along the so-called median line of the Taiwan Straits from Wednesday afternoon, entered the waters north of the island of Taiwan on Thursday morning and continued to sail north, the defense authority on the island said on Thursday.

On Monday, the Shandong carrier strike group returned to the South China Sea after holding the carrier strike group's third far sea exercise of the year in the West Pacific since October 26, during which the carrier doubled the record of its aircraft sortie rates and demonstrated its increasing capabilities in fending off potential external interference attempts and provocations, experts said.

It is the first time the Shandong has immediately transited the Taiwan Straits just a few days after a far sea exercise, observers said.

The purpose of the Shandong's latest transit in the Taiwan Straits is not yet known to the public, as the PLA had not announced the voyage as of press time, and the defense authority on the island of Taiwan did not provide enough additional information, including the number of escorting warships in the carrier strike group, to allow a credible analysis, a Chinese mainland military expert who requested anonymity told the Global Times on Thursday.

Media on the island of Taiwan speculated that it was likely that the Shandong did not return to its homeport in South China's Hainan Province and directly started a circumnavigation exercise around the island of Taiwan.

But in several previous cases, the Shandong routinely sailed through the Taiwan Straits to transit between its homeport in Hainan and its shipyard in Dalian, Northeast China's Liaoning Province for regular maintenance.

Either way, as the aircraft carrier is a strategic platform and brings strategic deterrence anywhere it goes, the Shandong's transit in the Taiwan Straits in effect deters "Taiwan independence" secessionists and external interference forces, experts said.