A US warship and a US Coast Guard cutter on Friday sailed through the Taiwan Strait, making the eighth transit under the administration of US President Joe Biden since he took office in January.
The passage comes amid a spike in military activity by China, and follows Chinese assault drills last week, with warships and fighter jets exercising off Taiwan to the southwest and southeast.
The USS Kidd, an Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer, accompanied by the USCGC Munro, transited “through international waters in accordance with international law,” the US Navy said in a statement.
Photo: AP
“The ships’ lawful transit through the Taiwan Strait demonstrates the US commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific. The United States military flies, sails and operates anywhere international law allows,” it said.
In Taipei, the Ministry of National Defense yesterday confirmed the transit of the two US ships through the Strait, one sailing south to north and the other north to south.
It monitored the transit via joint intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance tools, the ministry said.
It also described the situation as “normal.”
China yesterday called the move “provocative,” saying that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army Eastern Theater Command organized troops to follow, monitor and guard the course of the US ships’ operations.
Taiwan and the US in March signed an agreement establishing a coast guard working group to coordinate policy, following China’s passing of a law that allows its coast guard to fire on foreign vessels.
Before Friday’s transit, the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Benfold sailed through the Strait on July 28.
Earlier this year, the USS John S. McCain sailed through the waters on Feb. 4 and April 7, the USS Curtis Wilbur on Feb. 24, May 18 and June 22, and the USS John Finn on March 10.
Friday was not the first time a US Coast Guard cutter has sailed through the Strait, but it was a reminder that the force is keeping vessels in the region and “engaging in more joint training and law enforcement diplomacy to help strengthen partner nation capacity vis-a-vis Chinese encroachments,” said Greg Poling, a maritime security expert at Washington’s Center for Strategic and International Studies.
Additional reporting by CNA
MILITARY BOOST: The procurement was planned after Washington recommended that Taiwan increase its stock of air defense missiles, a defense official said yesterday Taiwan is planning to order an additional four PAC-3 MSE systems and up to 500 missiles in response to an increasing number of missile sites on China’s east coast, a defense official said yesterday. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that the proposed order would be placed using the defense procurement special budget, adding that about NT$1 trillion (US$32,88 billion) has been allocated for the budget. The proposed acquisition would include launchers, missiles, and a lower tier air and missile defense radar system, they said The procurement was planned after the US military recommended that Taiwan increase
POLITICAL AGENDA: Beijing’s cross-strait Mid-Autumn Festival events are part of a ‘cultural united front’ aimed at promoting unification with Taiwan, academics said Local authorities in China have been inviting Taiwanese to participate in cross-strait Mid-Autumn Festival celebrations centered around ideals of “family and nation,” a move Taiwanese academics said politicizes the holiday to promote the idea of “one family” across the Taiwan Strait. Sources said that China’s Fujian Provincial Government is organizing about 20 cross-strait-themed events in cities including Quanzhou, Nanping, Sanming and Zhangzhou. In Zhangzhou, a festival scheduled for Wednesday is to showcase Minnan-language songs and budaixi (布袋戲) glove puppetry to highlight cultural similarities between Taiwan and the region. Elsewhere, Jiangsu Province is hosting more than 10 similar celebrations in Taizhou, Changzhou, Suzhou,
COGNITIVE WARFARE: Chinese fishing boats transmitting fake identification signals are meant to test Taiwan’s responses to different kinds of perceived incursions, a report said Chinese vessels are transmitting fake signals in Taiwan’s waters as a form of cognitive warfare, testing Taipei’s responses to various types of incursions, a report by the Institute for the Study of War said on Friday. Several Chinese fishing vessels transmitted fake automatic identification system (AIS) signals in Taiwan’s waters last month, with one mimicking a Russian warship and another impersonating a Chinese law enforcement vessel, the report said. Citing data from Starboard Maritime Intelligence, the report said that throughout August and last month, the Chinese fishing boat Minshiyu 06718 (閩獅漁06718) sailed through the Taiwan Strait while intermittently transmitting its own AIS
CHINESE INFILTRATION: Medical logistics is a lifeline during wartime and the reported CCP links of a major logistics company present a national security threat, an expert said The government would bolster its security check system to prevent China from infiltrating the nation’s medical cold chain, a national security official said yesterday. The official, who wished to stay anonymous, made the remarks after the Chinese-language magazine Mirror Media (鏡周刊) reported that Pharma Logistics (嘉里醫藥物流) is in charge of the medical logistics of about half of the nation’s major hospitals, including National Taiwan University Hospital and Taipei Veterans General Hospital. The company’s parent, Kerry TJ Logistics Co (嘉里大榮物流), is associated with the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) and the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA), the
RSS