Two US warships sailed through the Taiwan Strait on Sunday, the seventh such transit since July last year, the Ministry of National Defense confirmed yesterday.
The two US Navy vessels entered the Strait from the southwest, heading north, the ministry said in a statement, without naming the warships.
The US ships freely passing through the Strait is part of the Indo-Pacific strategy, the ministry said, adding that the military monitored the transit and is fully knowledgeable about it.
The two destroyers were identified as the USS William P. Lawrence and the USS Stethem, a Reuters report earlier in the day said.
The ships’ passage through the Strait demonstrates the US’ commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific, Reuters said, quoting a statement from the US Pacific Fleet.
The destroyers USS Mustin and USS Benfold on July 7 last year sailed through the Taiwan Strait. They were followed by the guided-missile destroyer USS Curtis Wilbur and the Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser USS Antietam on Oct. 22, and the destroyer USS Stockdale and the replenishment oiler USNS Pecos on Nov. 28.
The Arleigh Burke-class destroyer USS McCampbell and fleet replenishment oiler the USNS Walter S. Diehl on Jan. 24 traversed the Taiwan Strait.
The destroyer USS Stethem and supply ship USNS Cesar Chavez on Feb. 24 transited the Strait, while the guided-missile destroyer USS Curtis Wilbur and the maritime security cutter USS Bertholf sailed through on March 24.
On April 6, the French frigate Vendemiaire passed through the 180km-wide Strait, a rare transit by a vessel from a European country.
President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) on Thursday said that the Taiwan Strait is international waters and all types of vessel regularly pass through it.
The military has “overall and precise” information regarding all vessels that pass through the waterway, regardless of whether they are military or civilian vessels, she added.
Following the Vendemiaire’s passage, China notified France that it was no longer invited to last week’s naval parade marking the 70th anniversary of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN), Reuters reported, citing unnamed US officials.
Lu Li-shih (呂禮詩), a retired navy lieutenant commander, said that Sunday’s passage was different from others because the two vessels turned on their automatic identification system (AIS), allowing them to be monitored on the app MarineTraffic, which displays near real-time positions of ships and yachts worldwide.
According to the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea, it is not mandatory for vessels used for official and military purposes to have their AIS on at all times, Lu said, adding that in the past, the US only disclosed passages through the Taiwan Strait in a press release.
EXPRESSING GRATITUDE: Without its Taiwanese partners which are ‘working around the clock,’ Nvidia could not meet AI demand, CEO Jensen Huang said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and US-based artificial intelligence (AI) chip designer Nvidia Corp have partnered with each other on silicon photonics development, Nvidia founder and CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) said. Speaking with reporters after he met with TSMC chairman C.C. Wei (魏哲家) in Taipei on Friday, Huang said his company was working with the world’s largest contract chipmaker on silicon photonics, but admitted it was unlikely for the cooperation to yield results any time soon, and both sides would need several years to achieve concrete outcomes. To have a stake in the silicon photonics supply chain, TSMC and
IDENTITY: Compared with other platforms, TikTok’s algorithm pushes a ‘disproportionately high ratio’ of pro-China content, a study has found Young Taiwanese are increasingly consuming Chinese content on TikTok, which is changing their views on identity and making them less resistant toward China, researchers and politicians were cited as saying by foreign media. Asked to suggest the best survival strategy for a small country facing a powerful neighbor, students at National Chia-Yi Girls’ Senior High School said “Taiwan must do everything to avoid provoking China into attacking it,” the Financial Times wrote on Friday. Young Taiwanese between the ages of 20 and 24 in the past were the group who most strongly espoused a Taiwanese identity, but that is no longer
A magnitude 6.4 earthquake and several aftershocks battered southern Taiwan early this morning, causing houses and roads to collapse and leaving dozens injured and 50 people isolated in their village. A total of 26 people were reported injured and sent to hospitals due to the earthquake as of late this morning, according to the latest Ministry of Health and Welfare figures. In Sising Village (西興) of Chiayi County's Dapu Township (大埔), the location of the quake's epicenter, severe damage was seen and roads entering the village were blocked, isolating about 50 villagers. Another eight people who were originally trapped inside buildings in Tainan
SHARED VALUES: The US, Taiwan and other allies hope to maintain the cross-strait ‘status quo’ to foster regional prosperity and growth, the former US vice president said Former US vice president Mike Pence yesterday vowed to continue to support US-Taiwan relations, and to defend the security and interests of both countries and the free world. At a meeting with President William Lai (賴清德) at the Presidential Office in Taipei, Pence said that the US and Taiwan enjoy strong and continued friendship based on the shared values of freedom, the rule of law and respect for human rights. Such foundations exceed limitations imposed by geography and culture, said Pence, who is visiting Taiwan for the first time. The US and Taiwan have shared interests, and Americans are increasingly concerned about China’s
RSS