Story highlights China's Liaoning carrier and escort vessels apparently returning from training exercises, news agency says

Its lone aircraft carrier prowled the Pacific as the country seeks to assert its military might

(CNN) Taiwan on Wednesday deployed fighter jets, a surveillance aircraft and Navy frigates in response to the movement of China's lone aircraft carrier into the Taiwan Straits, according to Taiwan's state-run Central New Agency.

The Liaoning carrier and its flotilla of escorting frigates and destroyers were apparently on their way back to base in northeastern China from the South China Sea following training exercises, the agency reported.

The Chinese vessels moved through waters off Shantou in the southeastern Chinese province of Guangdong early Wednesday morning and continued north, CNA reported, citing the defense ministry.

The agency said the ships remained "west of the median line of the Taiwan Strait," or closer to mainland China.

By Thursday morning, the Liaoning carrier had completed its passage through the strait, the news agency reported.