Taiwan reported China’s Liaoning aircraft carrier group sailing to the island’s south. The sighting came hours after the Chinese military put out a video saying it was “prepared for battle.”
Taiwan’s Defense Ministry said Sunday it was “on alert” after a Chinese aircraft carrier was detected to the south of the island.
The incident comes three days after Taiwan’s president angered Beijing during a speech to mark the self-ruled island’s National Day.
China considers Taiwan as part of its territory and tensions between the two have spiked in recent years over the near-constant deployment of Chinese ships to waters near the island.
Not all.
Carriers tend to have internal hangar spaces, repair/loadout spaces, machining capability, assisted takeoff/landing systems on the flight deck, etc.
To “carry” the aircraft and expect them to perform their roles, the carrier has to be a mobile light airfield and not just a deck to land and take off from.
Edit: Not to say they can’t sail or don’t with any of them on the flight deck of course, but that’s maintaining a certain level of readiness that has some posturing inherent. I guess that’s true for all military readiness doctrines.