The US military said one of its warships on Sunday sailed near the disputed Scarborough Shoal (Huangyan Island, 黃岩島) claimed by Taiwan and China in the South China Sea, a move likely to anger Beijing at a time of tense ties between the world’s two biggest economies.
The busy waterway is one of a growing number of flashpoints in the US-China relationship, which also includes a trade dispute, US sanctions and Taiwan.
The destroyer USS Preble carried out the operation, said Commander Clay Doss, a spokesman for the US Navy’s Seventh Fleet.
“Preble sailed within 12 nautical miles [22km] of Scarborough Reef in order to challenge excessive maritime claims and preserve access to the waterways as governed by international law,” Doss said.
Speaking in Beijing, Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Lu Kang (陸慷) said the ship had entered waters near the shoal without China’s permission, and the Chinese navy had warned it to leave.
“I must stress once again that the US warship’s relevant actions have violated China’s sovereignty and undermined the peace, security and good order in the relevant sea areas. China is firmly opposed to this,” Lu told a daily news briefing.
The US was trying to disturb regional peace and stability by using the issue of freedom of navigation and flight, he added.
“We strongly urge the United States to immediately stop such provocative actions so as not to undermine Sino-US relations and regional peace and stability,” he said.
Li Huamin (李華敏), spokesman of China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Southern Theater Command, said the PLA organized air and naval forces to warn the Preble to leave after it entered waters near Scarborough Shoal.
“The relevant actions from the US side endanger the safety of both Chinese and American ships and personnel, and undermine China’s sovereignty and safety,” Li said. “We express our resolute opposition.”
The Preble sail-by was the second such US military operation in the South China Sea in the past month, after two warships sailed by Gaven Reef (Nansyun Reef, 南薰礁) and Johnson Reef (called Chigua Reef, 赤瓜礁, by Beijing) in the Spratly Islands (Nansha Islands, 南沙群島).
On Wednesday, the chief of the US Navy said its freedom of navigation movements in the sea drew more attention than they deserved.
China and Taiwan claims nearly all of the sea, although the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia and Vietnam also claim parts of it.
Additional reporting by AFP
The government is aiming to recruit 1,096 foreign English teachers and teaching assistants this year, the Ministry of Education said yesterday. The foreign teachers would work closely with elementary and junior-high instructors to create and teach courses, ministry official Tsai Yi-ching (蔡宜靜) said. Together, they would create an immersive language environment, helping to motivate students while enhancing the skills of local teachers, she said. The ministry has since 2021 been recruiting foreign teachers through the Taiwan Foreign English Teacher Program, which offers placement, salary, housing and other benefits to eligible foreign teachers. Two centers serving northern and southern Taiwan assist in recruiting and training
WIDE NET: Health officials said they are considering all possibilities, such as bongkrekic acid, while the city mayor said they have not ruled out the possibility of a malicious act of poisoning Two people who dined at a restaurant in Taipei’s Far Eastern Department Store Xinyi A13 last week have died, while four are in intensive care, the Taipei Department of Health said yesterday. All of the outlets of Malaysian vegetarian restaurant franchise Polam Kopitiam have been ordered to close pending an investigation after 11 people became ill due to suspected food poisoning, city officials told a news conference in Taipei. The first fatality, a 39-year-old man who ate at the restaurant on Friday last week, died of kidney failure two days later at the city’s Mackay Memorial Hospital. A 66-year-old man who dined
‘CARRIER KILLERS’: The Tuo Chiang-class corvettes’ stealth capability means they have a radar cross-section as small as the size of a fishing boat, an analyst said President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday presided over a ceremony at Yilan County’s Suao Harbor (蘇澳港), where the navy took delivery of two indigenous Tuo Chiang-class corvettes. The corvettes, An Chiang (安江) and Wan Chiang (萬江), along with the introduction of the coast guard’s third and fourth 4,000-tonne cutters earlier this month, are a testament to Taiwan’s shipbuilding capability and signify the nation’s resolve to defend democracy and freedom, Tsai said. The vessels are also the last two of six Tuo Chiang-class corvettes ordered from Lungteh Shipbuilding Co (龍德造船) by the navy, Tsai said. The first Tuo Chiang-class vessel delivered was Ta Chiang (塔江)
EYE ON STRAIT: The US spending bill ‘doubles security cooperation funding for Taiwan,’ while also seeking to counter the influence of China US President Joe Biden on Saturday signed into law a US$1.2 trillion spending package that includes US$300 million in foreign military financing to Taiwan, as well as funding for Taipei-Washington cooperative projects. The US Congress early on Saturday overwhelmingly passed the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act 2024 to avoid a partial shutdown and fund the government through September for a fiscal year that began six months ago. Under the package, the Defense Appropriations Act would provide a US$27 billion increase from the previous fiscal year to fund “critical national defense efforts, including countering the PRC [People’s Republic of China],” according to a summary