A US Navy destroyer yesterday sailed through the Taiwan Strait to show Washington’s “commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific,” the Seventh Fleet of the US Indo-Pacific Command said in a statement.
The Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer USS Ralph Johnson was conducting a routine transit through international waters, the fleet said.
“The ship’s transit through the Taiwan Strait demonstrates the United States’ commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific,” Seventh Fleet spokesperson Nicholas Lingo said in a statement. “The United States military flies, sails and operates anywhere international law allows.”
Photo: EPA-EFE
The Chinese Ministry of National Defense did not immediately respond to a faxed request for comment.
Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense confirmed the transit, saying in a statement that the military had a full grasp of the situation as the US warship sailed through the Strait northward, and did not spot any irregularities.
According to the US military, the last time the US Navy conducted a similar navigation was on Jan. 22, when the USS Dewey (DDG-105), an Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer, sailed through the Strait.
US Navy ships routinely sail through the Taiwan Strait, but yesterday’s transit came as the crisis in Ukraine continues to unfold.
Taiwan is in a heightened state of alert due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, nervous that China might try to take advantage of the situation to make a move on the nation, although the government has reported no unusual Chinese maneuvers.
The air force last night said that eight Chinese military aircraft had entered the nation’s southwestern air defense identification zone earlier in the day.
Taiwan responded by dispatching planes to monitor the Chinese aircraft, issuing radio warnings and mobilizing air defense assets, it added.
China has sent record numbers of military aircraft into Taiwan’s air defense identification zone over the past two years.
Beijing says Taiwan is the most sensitive and important issue in its relations with Washington.
A growing number of US allies have transited the Strait as Beijing intensifies its military threats toward Taiwan and solidifies its control over the disputed South China Sea.
British, Canadian, French and Australian warships have all passed through the Strait in the past few years, sparking protests from Beijing.
Collin Koh, a research fellow at Singapore’s S Rajaratnam School of International Studies, keeps a database of declared US transits through the Strait.
Nine were conducted in 2019, followed by 15 in 2020 and 12 last year. So far this year there have been two, including the USS Ralph Johnson crossing.
Additional reporting by Wu Su-wei and AFP
Taiwanese Olympic badminton men’s doubles gold medalist Wang Chi-lin (王齊麟) and his new partner, Chiu Hsiang-chieh (邱相榤), clinched the men’s doubles title at the Yonex Taipei Open yesterday, becoming the second Taiwanese team to win a title in the tournament. Ranked 19th in the world, the Taiwanese duo defeated Kang Min-hyuk and Ki Dong-ju of South Korea 21-18, 21-15 in a pulsating 43-minute final to clinch their first doubles title after teaming up last year. Wang, the men’s doubles gold medalist at the 2020 and 2024 Olympics, partnered with Chiu in August last year after the retirement of his teammate Lee Yang
FALSE DOCUMENTS? Actor William Liao said he was ‘voluntarily cooperating’ with police after a suspect was accused of helping to produce false medical certificates Police yesterday questioned at least six entertainers amid allegations of evasion of compulsory military service, with Lee Chuan (李銓), a member of boy band Choc7 (超克7), and actor Daniel Chen (陳大天) among those summoned. The New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office in January launched an investigation into a group that was allegedly helping men dodge compulsory military service using falsified medical documents. Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) has been accused of being one of the group’s clients. As the investigation expanded, investigators at New Taipei City’s Yonghe Precinct said that other entertainers commissioned the group to obtain false documents. The main suspect, a man surnamed
US Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent and US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer began talks with high-ranking Chinese officials in Switzerland yesterday aiming to de-escalate a dispute that threatens to cut off trade between the world’s two biggest economies and damage the global economy. The US delegation has begun meetings in Geneva with a Chinese delegation led by Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng (何立峰), Xinhua News Agency said. Diplomats from both sides also confirmed that the talks have begun, but spoke anonymously and the exact location of the talks was not made public. Prospects for a major breakthrough appear dim, but there is
The number of births in Taiwan fell to an all-time monthly low last month, while the population declined for the 16th consecutive month, Ministry of the Interior data released on Friday showed. The number of newborns totaled 8,684, which is 704 births fewer than in March and the lowest monthly figure on record, the ministry said. That is equivalent to roughly one baby born every five minutes and an annual crude birthrate of 4.52 per 1,000 people, the ministry added. Meanwhile, 17,205 deaths were recorded, resulting in a natural population decrease of 8,521, the data showed. More people are also leaving Taiwan, with net
RSS