A Canadian warship passed through the Taiwan Strait on Wednesday as part of what Ottawa called a commitment to an open Indo-Pacific region.
The Canadian Ministry of National Defense said the HMCS Montreal frigate had “recently conducted a routine transit” through the Strait.
The transit was a reaffirmation of Canada’s commitment to a “free, open and inclusive” Indo-Pacific region, Canadian Minister of National Defence Bill Blair said.
Photo: US Navy / Naval Air Crewman (Helicopter) 1st Class Dalton Cooper / Handout via Reuters
“As outlined in our Indo-Pacific Strategy, Canada is increasing the presence of the Royal Canadian Navy in the Indo-Pacific region,” Blair said, referring to Canada’s plan for the region announced in 2022.
Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command spokesman Colonel Li Xi (李熹) said the passage of the Canadian frigate had “harassed and disrupted the situation, and undermined peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait.”
China’s troops were on high alert at all times and are “ready to respond to all threats and provocations,” he added.
China claims it has jurisdiction over the Taiwan Strait.
US warships, and occasionally US Navy patrol aircraft, pass through or over the Strait about once a month.
Canadian naval vessels are less common, though in November last year the US destroyer USS Rafael Peralta and a Royal Canadian Navy frigate HMCS Ottawa conducted a joint transit through the Strait.
In June, during another joint US-Canada drill in the strait, a Chinese warship came within 137m of a US destroyer in what the Pentagon called “an unsafe manner.”
The Ministry of National Defense (MND) in a statement yesterday said that the military had “full control” over the surrounding sea and airspace during the Canadian frigate’s transit from north to south through the Taiwan Strait, adding that it observed nothing unusual.
Separately, the military has been reporting near-daily sightings of Chinese warships around Taiwan’s waters, as well as sorties by drones and fighter jets around the nation.
The MND yesterday said 29 Chinese military aircraft and 10 naval vessels were detected in a 24-hour window ending at 6am.
Additional reporting by AFP
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