Two US warships sailed through the sensitive Taiwan Strait on Thursday in the second such mission this month, drawing a protest from Beijing. It happened almost two weeks after a Chinese aircraft carrier group used the same waterway.
China, which claims democratically run Taiwan as its own, has been angered by stepped-up United States support for the island, including arms sales and its warships sailing through the Taiwan Strait.
The US Navy said the guided-missile destroyers USS John S McCain and USS Curtis Wilbur had “conducted a routine Taiwan Strait transit December 31 in accordance with international law”.
“The ships’ transit through the Taiwan Strait demonstrates the US commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific. The United States military will continue to fly, sail and operate wherever international law allows.”
Beijing has slammed Washington after two guided-missile destroyers sailed across the Taiwan Strait on Thursday, the thirteenth such mission through the contested waterway this year, adding to already fraught US-China relations.
ReplyDeleteThe USS John S. McCain and USS Curtis Wilbur conducted a “routine Taiwan Strait transit” on December 31, the US Navy said in a statement, claiming the exercise complied with international law.
But the drill was met with fury from Beijing, with Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Wang Wenbin saying during a regular news briefing: “US warships have repeatedly flaunted their prowess in the Taiwan Strait, provoked and stirred up trouble.”