A US and a Canadian warship on Sunday sailed through the Taiwan Strait together less than a week after China conducted a new round of war games around Taiwan.
The US Navy’s 7th Fleet yesterday said that the destroyer USS Higgins and the Canadian frigate HMCS Vancouver made a “routine” transit on Sunday “through waters where high-seas freedom of navigation and overflight apply in accordance with international law.”
The transit demonstrated the US’ and Canada’s commitment to upholding freedom of navigation for all nations, it said in a statement.
Photo: Mass Communications Specialist 3rd Class Trevor Hale / US Navy via AP
“The international community’s navigational rights and freedoms in the Taiwan Strait should not be limited. The United States rejects any assertion of sovereignty or jurisdiction that is inconsistent with freedoms of navigations, overflight, and other lawful uses of the sea and air,” it said.
The Ministry of National Defense yesterday said that the US and Canadian ships sailed in a northerly direction and the armed forces kept watch, adding that the situation was “as normal.”
Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said that freedom of navigation fits not only the national interest, but also the common interest of the Indo-Pacific region.
China’s People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command spokesperson Li Xi (李熹) characterized the transit as “disruptive to the peace and stability of the Taiwan Strait.”
Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Lin Jian (林劍) said Taiwan was not a matter of “freedom of navigation,” but of China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.
“China firmly opposes any country provoking and threatening China’s sovereignty and security in the name of ‘freedom of navigation,’” Lin added.
China staged the war games on Monday last week that it said were a warning to “separatist acts” and which drew condemnation from the Taiwanese and US governments.
The US and Canadian navies last sailed such a joint mission in November last year, while the US last transited the Taiwan Strait on Aug. 22 when the USS Ralph Johnson passed through.
Additional reporting by Huang Ching-hsuan and CNA
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