China's military said on Wednesday the aircraft carrier Shandong had returned to its home port in Hainan "in recent days", after a month-long voyage that included transits around Taiwan for drills and a flex of muscles as far out as the Western Pacific.
This year, the Shandong has been spotted in the Taiwan strait, the Bashi channel between Taiwan and the Philippines, and even as far as Guam. In early April, it took part in drills that simulated attacks by fighter jets launched from an aircraft carrier on democratically governed Taiwan for the first time.
