Two US military vessels transited the Taiwan Strait from Sunday through early today, Taiwan's Ministry of National Defense (MND) said in a statement.
Records show that this transit through the narrow waterway separating Taiwan and China marked the first time the US Navy has made the passage since US President Donald Trump took office last month.
The two vessels sailed south through the Strait, the MND said, adding that it closely monitored nearby airspace and waters at the time and observed nothing unusual.
Photo: EPA-EFE
The MND did not name the two vessels but the US Navy identified them as the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Ralph Johnson and the Pathfinder-class survey ship USNS Bowditch.
The ships carried out a north-to-south transit on Feb. 10-12, a US military spokesperson told Reuters.
"The transit occurred through a corridor in the Taiwan Strait that is beyond any coastal state's territorial seas," said Navy Commander Matthew Comer, a spokesperson at the US military's Indo-Pacific Command, according to the Reuters report.
The US 7th fleet, however, did not publicize the passage via press release, as was standard during the administration of the previous US president Joe Biden.
The confirmations made by the US and Taiwanese militaries came after China made a statement regarding the US transit earlier yesterday.
The state-run Global Times quoted Li Xi (李熹), spokesperson for the Eastern Theater Command of the People's Liberation Army (PLA), as saying that PLA forces have "deployed naval and air forces to monitor the entire passage of the US vessels, effectively responding to and managing the situation."
"The actions of the US sent the wrong signals and increased security risks. The Eastern Theater Command remains on high alert, resolutely safeguarding national sovereignty and security, as well as regional peace and stability," Li said.
The US Navy, sometimes joined by allies, makes regular transits through the waterway separating Taiwan and China in what it calls freedom of navigation.
The last time a US warship transited the Strait was on Oct. 20 last year when the Arleigh Burke-class destroyer USS Higgins, along with Royal Canadian Navy Halifax-class frigate HMCS Vancouver, sailed through the body of water.
Twenty-four Republican members of the US House of Representatives yesterday introduced a concurrent resolution calling on the US government to abolish the “one China” policy and restore formal diplomatic relations with Taiwan. Led by US representatives Tom Tiffany and Scott Perry, the resolution calls for not only re-establishing formal relations, but also urges the US Trade Representative to negotiate a free-trade agreement (FTA) with Taiwan and for US officials to advocate for Taiwan’s full membership in the UN and other international organizations. In a news release announcing the resolution, Tiffany, who represents a Wisconsin district, called the “one China” policy “outdated, counterproductive
Actress Barbie Hsu (徐熙媛) has “returned home” to Taiwan, and there are no plans to hold a funeral for the TV star who died in Japan from influenza- induced pneumonia, her family said in a statement Wednesday night. The statement was released after local media outlets reported that Barbie Hsu’s ashes were brought back Taiwan on board a private jet, which arrived at Taipei Songshan Airport around 3 p.m. on Wednesday. To the reporters waiting at the airport, the statement issued by the family read “[we] appreciate friends working in the media for waiting in the cold weather.” “She has safely returned home.
ON PAROLE: The 73-year-old suspect has a criminal record of rape committed when he was serving in the military, as well as robbery and theft, police said The Kaohsiung District Court yesterday approved the detention of a 73-year-old man for allegedly murdering three women. The suspect, surnamed Chang (張), was arrested on Wednesday evening in connection with the death of a 71-year-old woman surnamed Chao (趙). The Kaohsiung City Police Department yesterday also unveiled the identities of two other possible victims in the serial killing case, a 75-year-old woman surnamed Huang (黃), the suspect’s sister-in-law, and a 75-year-old woman surnamed Chang (張), who is not related to the suspect. The case came to light when Chao disappeared after taking the suspect back to his residence on Sunday. Police, upon reviewing CCTV
Johanne Liou (劉喬安), a Taiwanese woman who shot to unwanted fame during the Sunflower movement protests in 2014, was arrested in Boston last month amid US President Donald Trump’s crackdown on illegal immigrants, the Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB) said yesterday. The arrest of Liou was first made public on the official Web site of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on Tuesday. ICE said Liou was apprehended for overstaying her visa. The Boston Field Office’s Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) had arrested Liou, a “fugitive, criminal alien wanted for embezzlement, fraud and drug crimes in Taiwan,” ICE said. Liou was taken into custody
RSS