WASHINGTON, Jan 5 (Portal) – A US warship sailed through the sensitive Taiwan Strait on Thursday, part of what the US military has described as routine activity but which has angered China.
In recent years, US warships and occasionally those from allied nations like Britain and Canada have sailed through the Straits, drawing the wrath of China, which claims Taiwan over the objections of its democratically elected government.
In a statement, the US military said the Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer Chung-Hoon conducted the transit.
“Chung-Hoon’s transit through the Taiwan Strait demonstrates the United States’ commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific,” the statement added.
In a statement, Liu Pengyu, spokesman for the Chinese embassy in Washington, said China strongly opposes the move and called on the United States to “immediately stop provoking problems, escalating tensions and undermining cross-strait peace and stability.”
“US warships often flex their muscles in the name of exercising freedom of navigation. It’s not about keeping the region free and open,” the statement said.
“China will remain on high alert and ready at all times to respond to any threats and provocations, and will resolutely uphold its national sovereignty and territorial integrity.”
A spokesman for the Chinese People’s Liberation Army East Theater Command said it had organized troops to monitor and guard the ship’s transit and “all movements are under control.”
Taiwan’s Defense Ministry said the ship sailed north through the straits, its forces monitored its passage and observed nothing out of the ordinary.
The narrow Taiwan Strait has been a frequent source of military tension since the defeated ROC government fled to Taiwan in 1949 after losing a civil war with the communists who founded the People’s Republic of China.
The United States has no formal diplomatic ties with Taiwan, but is required by law to provide the island with the means of self-defense.
China has never ruled out using force to take control of Taiwan. Taiwan vows to defend itself if attacked, saying Beijing’s claims of sovereignty are invalid because the People’s Republic of China has never ruled the island.
A Chinese military plane came within 10 feet of a US Air Force plane in the contested South China Sea last month, forcing it to take evasive action to avoid a collision in international airspace.
The close encounter followed what the United States described as a recent trend of increasingly dangerous behavior by Chinese military aircraft.
Reporting by Idrees Ali; Additional reporting by Yimou Lee in Taipei and Liz Lee in Beijing; Edited by Lisa Shumaker, Leslie Adler and Raju Gopalakrishnan
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