Asia Pacific
Asia Pacific
US-China relations

US destroyer sails through Taiwan Strait, provoking China

Agence France-Presse

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US destroyer sails through Taiwan Strait, provoking China

This US Navy photo released April 29, 2020 shows The Arleigh-Burke class guided-missile destroyer USS Barry (DDG 52) conducting underway operations on April 28, 2020 in the South China Sea. - Barry is forward-deployed to the US 7th Fleet area of operations in support of security and stability in the Indo-Pacific region. A US Navy guided-missile destroyer sailed through waters near the Paracel islands in the South China Sea challenging China's claim to the area, the Navy said April 29, 2020. The USS Barry undertook the so-called "freedom of navigation operation" on Tuesday, a week after Beijing upped its claims to the region by designating an official administrative district for the islands. (Photo by Samuel HARDGROVE / US NAVY / AFP) / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - MANDATORY CREDIT "AFP PHOTO US NAVY/SAMUEL HARDGROVE/HANDOUT " - NO MARKETING - NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS - DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS

AFP

(UPDATED) Beijing views the passage of foreign vessels through the Strait as a violation of its sovereignty

A US warship sailed through the Taiwan Strait in what the American military described as a “routine” passage Wednesday, October 14, but enraging China, which claims sovereignty over the island and surrounding seas.

Ties between Beijing and Washington have deteriorated in recent months, over issues including trade and Hong Kong, with the self-ruled island of Taiwan a long-running source of tension.

The guided-missile destroyer USS Barry conducted a “routine Taiwan Strait transit Oct. 14 (local time) in accordance with international law,” according to a statement by the US Pacific Fleet.

“The ship’s transit through the Taiwan Strait demonstrates the US commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific,” the statement said.

“The US Navy will continue to fly, sail and operate anywhere international law allows,” it added.

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Any US Navy operations in the Taiwan Strait, which separates China from the island, provoke a strong response from Beijing, which considers Taiwan to be an inviolable part of its territory.

In an angry riposte, the Chinese People’s Liberation Army said it tracked the USS Barry by sea and air “throughout the entire process.”

“We warn the US to stop its words and deeds that provoke trouble and disturb the situation in the Taiwan Strait,” Eastern Theater Command spokesman Colonel Zhang Chunhui said. 

The island has been governed separately since the end of a civil war in China in 1949.

Taiwan has its own flag and currency, but it is not recognized as an independent nation by the UN. 

Washington ended its diplomatic relations with Taipei in 1979 in order to improve ties with China, but the US remains the island’s most powerful ally and its main arms supplier.

The Chinese have threatened to use force if Taipei proclaims independence or if there is foreign intervention.

Beijing views the passage of foreign vessels through the Strait as a violation of its sovereignty. 

Washington and many other countries, on the other hand, see the waterway as part of international waters and therefore open to all. – Rappler.com

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