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(Image: AFP/GETTY)

The country’s sole aircraft carrier, the Liaoning, was sent deep into the disputed South China Sea.

And whilst it was at it, it sailed menacingly close to Taiwan; a self-governing island that China claims as its own.

It comes only days after state-run media called for China to invade Taiwan, showing its “resolution” to “recover [it] by force”.

(Image: AFP)

Beijing lays claim to some 90% of the South China Sea, approximately 1,260,000 square miles of largely open water.

Yet several other nations, including the Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia and Taiwan, have claims of their own.

It’s a dispute that exploded this year when an international tribunal ruled out Beijing’s demands in the South China Sea.

At stake are waters believed to hold a wealth of untapped oil and gas reserves, through which trillions of dollars of trade passes.

Stunning photos show the Soviet-built Liaoning stalking the disputed waters, with fighter jets crowding its deck, some taking off and landing.

Taiwan says the carrier, which led a group of warships, skirted waters near its air defence identification zone to the east and south.

It’s a move that caused the island’s authorities to warn its people that "the threat of our enemies is growing day by day”.

China has offered few details on the Liaoning’s mission, calling it a routine exercise in line with international law.

(Image: GETTY)

Tensions between Taiwan and China skyrocketed after US President-elect Donald Trump recently called the island’s leader, Tsai Ing-wen.

Out of respect for Beijing, the US severed ties with the island nation back in 1979, but Trump's behaviour boosts the case for normalising relations.

China is deeply suspicious of President Tsai, suspecting she wants official independence, and has never renounced using force to bring Taiwan back under control.

At a regular briefing, An Fengshan, spokesman for China's Taiwan Affairs Office, said China would make every effort to achieve "peaceful reunification".

(Image: AFP)

"At the same time,” he told reporters, "our position on maintaining the country's sovereignty and territorial integrity is unswerving."

"We will never permit Taiwan independence separatist forces to split Taiwan from China in any way or in any name," he added.

Taiwan said today that the aircraft carrier had docked at a naval base in the southern Chinese province of Hainan.

A senior Taiwanese official said the vessel had been testing its coordination with other military equipment.

(Image: AFP)

And they warned that the Liaoning’s arrival in port did not mean that its mission was over.

Officially called the Republic Of China, Taiwan was once part of a united country ruled from Beijing.

However when the Chinese communists seized control of the mainland, the island became the old government's last stronghold.

Today both sides lay claim to the other's territory, however most countries recognise the communist regime as the official government.