Photo: Omar Marques/Getty Images
A The US warship sailed through the sensitive Taiwan Strait on Thursday, part of what the US military considers routine activity but which drew irritation from China.
In recent years, US warships, and sometimes from allied nations such as Britain and Canada, have sailed through the strait, angering China, which claims possession of Taiwan against the objections of its democratically elected government.
It’s a statement, The US military said the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer Chung-Hoon carried out 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.
It’s a statement, Liu Pengyu, a spokesman for the Chinese embassy in Washington, said China strongly opposes the move and urged the United States to “immediately stop stirring up trouble, escalating tensions and undermining peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait.” .
“US warships frequently flex muscles in the name of exercising freedom of navigation. This is not about keeping the region free and open,” the statement said.
“China will continue to be on high alert and stand ready to respond to all threats and provocations at any time, and will resolutely safeguard its national sovereignty and territorial integrity.”
A spokesman for the Chinese People’s Liberation Army Eastern Theater Command said it organized troops to monitor and protect the ship’s transit and that “all movements were under control.”
Taiwan’s Defense Ministry said the ship sailed north through the strait, that its forces had monitored its passage and observed nothing out of the ordinary.
The 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 established the People’s Republic of China.
The United States does not have formal diplomatic relations with Taiwan, but is required by law to provide the island with the means to defend itself.
China has never ruled out the use of force to bring Taiwan under its control. Taiwan vows to defend itself if attacked, saying Beijing’s claims to sovereignty are void since the PRC has never ruled the island.
A Chinese military plane came within 10 feet of a US air force plane in the disputed South China Sea last month, forcing it into evasive collision avoidance maneuvers in international airspace.
The close encounter followed what the United States has called a recent trend of increasingly dangerous behavior by Chinese military aircraft.
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