U.S. and Canadian warships challenge China in the Taiwan Strait
The Chinese military criticized the Sunday voyage of American and Canadian warships through the Taiwan Strait, calling it a "threat to peace." The passage, described by the United States as "routine," occurred less than a week after extensive Chinese maneuvers around Taiwan.
The destroyer USS Higgins and the frigate HMCS Vancouver of the Royal Canadian Navy conducted a "routine" voyage through the Taiwan Strait, the U.S. Navy's 7th Fleet said in a Monday statement.
The vessels sailed through the open sea, "through waters where high-seas freedom of navigation and overflight apply in accordance with international law," explained the U.S. Naval Forces statement.
"The international community's navigational rights and freedoms in the Taiwan Strait should not be limited. The United States rejects any assertion of sovereignty or jurisdiction that is inconsistent with freedoms of navigations, overflight, and other lawful uses of the sea and air," reminded the U.S. Navy.
The communist authorities in Beijing consider the roughly 130-kilometre-wide strait, separating Taiwan from mainland China, as their territorial waters.
Li Xi, spokesperson for the Eastern Theater Command, stated on Monday that the Chinese People's Liberation Army is maintaining a heightened state of alert and is firmly committed to defending national sovereignty and security while ensuring peace and stability in the region.
Statements from the U.S. and Canada came a week after China conducted large-scale military exercises in the waters surrounding Taiwan. The maneuvers, which were a response to Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te's speech on the occasion of the national holiday, observed the activity of a record number of 125 aircraft, along with the aircraft carrier Liaoning and other warships. Lai emphasized his commitment to "oppose annexation" by Beijing.
The Chinese Communist Party has never formally ruled over Taiwan, but it claims the democratically governed island is an "inseparable" part of Chinese territory and a "rebellious province." Beijing has repeatedly stated that the Chinese military will "never" renounce the "use of force" to take Taiwan.
