A U.S. warship and a Canadian frigate sailed the sensitive Taiwan Strait together on Sunday, just days after China conducted military exercises in the region. Beijing has condemned this mission as “disruptive.”
The U.S. Navy usually carries out monthly transits through the strait and often with allied vessels. China claims Taiwan as its own and maintains sovereignty over the strategically important waterway.
The U.S. Navy’s 7th Fleet said on Monday the destroyer USS Higgins and the Canadian frigate HMCS Vancouver conducted a “routine” transit. The Navy clarified it operated “by international law, where high-seas freedom of navigation and overflight apply.” It insisted on a commitment by both nations to having navigational freedoms available for all countries.
“It is the position of the United States that navigational rights and freedoms in the Taiwan Strait should not be restricted. The United States opposes any claim of sovereignty over the Strait inconsistent with these freedoms,” it said.
China’s Eastern Theatre Command reacted to the passage, saying it had monitored the ships and given them warnings. “The actions of the United States and Canada are causing disturbances and are disruptive to peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait,” it added.
China’s military exercises last Monday were billed as warnings against “separatist acts” and were criticized by the Taiwanese and U.S. governments. The last joint naval mission between the U.S. and Canada occurred in November last year.
Beijing insists that some 180-kilometer-wide strait is part of its territorial waters, but both Taipei and Washington claim it is an international waterway. The Taiwanese government squarely rejects Beijing’s claim over Taiwan, the PRC’s ‘One China’ principle, because it argues the future of Taiwan should be decided by the people living on the island.
