Taiwan's defense ministry says the Chinese aircraft carrier Shandong has passed through the Bashi Channel between Taiwan and the Philippines.

It was navigating in waters southeast of Taiwan as of Wednesday evening.

The Shandong is China's first domestically built carrier.

Taiwan's defense ministry said in a statement on Wednesday that this is the first time the Shandong has conducted training in the West Pacific.

The ministry said, "The Chinese communists continue to send aircraft and ships to encroach in the seas and airspace around Taiwan."

The ministry said in addition to posing a substantial threat to Taiwan's national security, the Shandong's latest mission also destroys the status quo of regional security and stability.

The ministry said, "Such actions are by no means the acts of a responsible modern country." It stressed that external pressure will not hinder Taiwan's "determination to go into the world."

The remarks are likely to express Taiwan's view that the move is China's response to the upcoming talks between Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen and US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy in Los Angeles on Wednesday, local time.