China to deploy 2 aircraft carriers off Taiwan coast as it warns US of 'cold war': Report

Days after China threatened to “unify” Taiwan, it is planning to deploy two of its new aircraft carriers off the coast of Taiwan which has further sparked concerns of a potential invasion by the Asian superpower. According to an international media report, for the first time, China has decided to deploy two huge carriers, the Liaoning and Shandong together near Pratas islands.

The aircraft carriers are currently being trained for combat readiness at Bohai Bay and it has reportedly sparked fears among the Taiwan authorities that Pratas islands could be used as the staging point for an attack on the mainland.

This controversial move comes as Beijing threatened to acquire Taiwan again in response to United States President Donald Trump's statement that he could “cut off the whole relationship” with China. While tensions between US-China have intensified over the handling of coronavirus outbreak, Beijing has also warned of a “new cold war” with Washington after rejecting the accusations of the US government as “lies”.

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'Cover-up' by China is similar to Chernobyl 

While the US-China relationship is already strained, recently a senior White House official compared the cover-up done by the Chinese government of COVID-19 pandemic with the handling of Chernobyl disaster in 1986 by the Soviet Union. In an interview with an international media outlet, White House National Security adviser Robert O’Brien said that China was aware of what was happening with the novel coronavirus as it originated in the country in November, but did not tell the truth to the World Health Organisation (WHO) so that it can formulate the global response to the health crisis.

Meanwhile, the Chinese Foreign Ministry had previously unveiled “Reality Check” of at least 24 “preposterous” allegations that the United States posed at Asian superpower. In the 11,000-word detailed rebuke from US President Donald Trump calling coronavirus as “Chinese Virus”, China took each statement point-by-point.  Chinese foreign MInistry gave references to the “truth” and even quoted former US President Abraham Lincoln’s words, "You can fool all the people some of the time, and some of the people all the time, but you cannot fool all the people all the time".

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