UPDATE 1-China says aircraft carrier on way to S.China Sea after Taiwan passage

(Recasts, updates throughout with details)
BEIJING, Nov 18 (Reuters) - China's first domestically-built
aircraft carrier is on its way to the South China Sea for tests
and to take part in exercises, the Chinese navy said on Monday,
after sailing through the Taiwan Strait in a mission denounced
by Taipei as intimidation.
Taiwan's defence ministry said on Sunday a Chinese carrier
group led by the ship passed through the sensitive strait with
U.S. and Japanese vessels tailing it. Self-ruled Taiwan, regarded by China as a wayward province,
said Beijing was trying to intimidate the island ahead of a
presidential election in January.
In a statement, the Chinese Navy said the carrier passed
through the Taiwan Strait on Sunday night, going to the South
China Sea for "scientific tests and routine drills".
"The organisation of the trials and drills of the domestic
aircraft carrier through the region is a normal arrangement in
the construction process of the aircraft carrier," it said.
"It is not aimed at any specific target and has nothing to
do with the current situation."
The ministry did not elaborate. It made no mention of the
carrier being trailed by American and Japanese ships, which
Taiwan's defence ministry had mentioned in its statement.
The South China Sea is a sensitive waterway, disputed all or
in part by China, Vietnam, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and
Brunei.
China's still-unnamed carrier, the first to be built
domestically, began sea trials last year. Chinese military
experts have told state media it is not expected to enter
service until 2020, once it has been kitted out and armed.
The ship has been undergoing sea trials from it base in the
northern port city of Dalian, where it was built. Little is
known about China's carrier programme, which is a state secret.
The government has said the new vessel's design draws on
experiences with its first carrier, the Liaoning, which was
bought second-hand from Ukraine in 1998 and refitted in China.