Taiwan Spots Chinese Carrier, China Military Video Says ‘Prepared for Battle’

A Taiwanese flag is seen as Taiwan’s Air Force Thunder Tiger Aerobatics Team jets fly by during Taiwan’s 113th National Day celebrations in Taipei on October 10, 2024. (AFP)
A Taiwanese flag is seen as Taiwan’s Air Force Thunder Tiger Aerobatics Team jets fly by during Taiwan’s 113th National Day celebrations in Taipei on October 10, 2024. (AFP)
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Taiwan Spots Chinese Carrier, China Military Video Says ‘Prepared for Battle’

A Taiwanese flag is seen as Taiwan’s Air Force Thunder Tiger Aerobatics Team jets fly by during Taiwan’s 113th National Day celebrations in Taipei on October 10, 2024. (AFP)
A Taiwanese flag is seen as Taiwan’s Air Force Thunder Tiger Aerobatics Team jets fly by during Taiwan’s 113th National Day celebrations in Taipei on October 10, 2024. (AFP)

Taiwan reported a Chinese aircraft carrier group sailing to the island's south on Sunday, as China's military put out a video saying it was "prepared for battle" amid concerns in Taipei about the possibility of a new round of Chinese war games.

China, which views democratically governed Taiwan as its own territory, detests its president Lai Ching-te as a "separatist", and the Chinese military routinely operates around the island.

Last week at his keynote national day speech, Lai said the People's Republic of China had no right to represent Taiwan, but that the island was willing to work with Beijing to combat challenges like climate change, striking both a firm and conciliatory tone, but drawing anger from China.

Taiwan's defense ministry said in a statement that a Chinese navy group led by the carrier the Liaoning had entered waters near the Bashi Channel, which connects the South China Sea and the Pacific and separates Taiwan from the Philippines. It said the carrier group was expected to enter the Western Pacific.

Taiwan's armed forces are keeping a close watch on developments and "exercising an appropriate vigilance and response", the ministry added, without elaborating.

Security sources in Taiwan had said before Lai's address that his speech could prompt new Chinese war games, last held by the country in May in what Beijing said was "punishment" for Lai's inauguration speech that month.

Earlier on Sunday, the People's Liberation Army's Eastern Theater Command, which has responsibility for an area that includes Taiwan, put out a propaganda video on its social media accounts entitled "fully prepared and biding one's time before battle".

It showed fighter jets and warships operating together, mobile missile launchers being moving into place and amphibious assault vehicles, with a small map of Taiwan included in one of the Chinese characters that make up the video's title.

China has not ruled out using force to achieve unification.

China's defense ministry did not answer calls outside of office hours on Sunday. China's Taiwan Affairs Office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Lai and his government reject Beijing's sovereignty claims, saying only Taiwan's people can decide their future. Lai has repeatedly offered talks with Beijing but been rebuffed.



Vatican Cancels Pope’s Weekend Engagements as He Battles ‘Complex’ Infection 

Pedestrians walk past the statue of Pope John Paul II outside the Gemelli hospital where Pope Francis is hospitalized for tests and treatment for an infection in Rome, on February 18, 2025. (AFP)
Pedestrians walk past the statue of Pope John Paul II outside the Gemelli hospital where Pope Francis is hospitalized for tests and treatment for an infection in Rome, on February 18, 2025. (AFP)
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Vatican Cancels Pope’s Weekend Engagements as He Battles ‘Complex’ Infection 

Pedestrians walk past the statue of Pope John Paul II outside the Gemelli hospital where Pope Francis is hospitalized for tests and treatment for an infection in Rome, on February 18, 2025. (AFP)
Pedestrians walk past the statue of Pope John Paul II outside the Gemelli hospital where Pope Francis is hospitalized for tests and treatment for an infection in Rome, on February 18, 2025. (AFP)

Pope Francis, who began his fifth day in hospital on Tuesday for what doctors have described as a "complex" respiratory infection, will not take part in this weekend's Holy Year events, the Vatican said on Tuesday.

The 88-year-old pontiff has been suffering from a respiratory infection for more than a week and was admitted to Rome's Gemelli hospital on Friday.

A planned public papal audience set for Saturday had been cancelled "due to the health condition of the Holy Father", the Vatican said in a brief statement.

A papal mass scheduled for Sunday will still take place, but will be led instead by a senior Vatican official, it added.

The Vatican said on Monday that doctors had changed the pope's drug therapy for the second time during his hospital stay to tackle a "complex clinical situation". They described it as a "polymicrobial infection of the respiratory tract".

Doctors say polymicrobial diseases can be caused by a mix of viruses, bacteria and fungi.

Francis, who has been pontiff since 2013, has had influenza and other health problems several times over the past two years. As a young adult he developed pleurisy and had part of one lung removed, and in recent times has been prone to lung infections.