The Taiwan Strait does not belong to China and any attempts to create tension threaten global security, the Ministry of National Defense (MND) said yesterday after Beijing criticized Canada for sailing a warship through the waterway.
The Canadian naval frigate HMCS Ottawa transited through the Strait on Sunday morning, days after two US ships also transited the Strait.
The US Navy and occasionally ships from allied countries, including Canada, the UK and France, transit the Strait, which they consider an international waterway, about once a month.
Photo: US Navy via Reuters
Taiwan also considers it an international waterway, but China says the strategic waterway belongs to it.
Last week the first US Navy ships transited the Strait since US President Donald Trump took office last month, drawing an angry reaction from China, which said the mission increased security risks.
The ministry said China had responded to those sailings by carrying out “joint combat readiness patrols.”
“The Taiwan Strait is absolutely not within the scope of China’s sovereignty,” the ministry said in a statement.
Freedom of navigation by “friendly and allied” countries through the Strait are concrete actions that highlight the Strait’s legal status, and China is trying to create a false appearance that the waterway is an “internal issue,” it added.
“Peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait is not only a matter of concern for Taiwan, but also a common concern for free and democratic countries around the world,” the ministry said. “Any deliberate attempts by the communist’s military to create tension in the Taiwan Strait will pose a real threat to global security.”
The statement came as a response to China’s military, which earlier yesterday lambasted Canada for sailing the warship through the Strait.
Canada’s actions “deliberately stirred up trouble” and undermined peace and stability in the Strait, the People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command said in a statement.
“Theater forces maintain a high level of alert at all times and resolutely counter all threats and provocations,” it added.
The Canadian military declined immediate comment.
In October last year, a US and a Canadian warship sailed together through the Strait, less than a week after China conducted a new round of war games around Taiwan.
Taiwan has complained of repeated Chinese military activities near the nation.
The ministry yesterday morning in its daily update of China’s actions over the previous 24 hours said that it had detected 41 Chinese military aircraft and nine ships around the nation, concentrated in the Strait and off southwest Taiwan.
Additional reporting by staff writer
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