US and Canadian warships yesterday sailed through the Taiwan Strait, the navies of both countries said, in a joint mission through the sensitive waterway.
Last week, Chinese aircraft carrier the Shandong led two other ships through the Taiwan Strait, in a show of force after Beijing conducted aerial and naval exercises around Taiwan in April.
The US Seventh Fleet yesterday announced that its destroyer the USS Chung-Hoon and the Royal Canadian Navy’s HMCS Montreal were “conducting a routine Taiwan Strait transit June 3 through waters where high-seas freedoms of navigation and overflight apply in accordance with international law.”
Photo: Reuters
“Chung-Hoon and Montreal’s bilateral transit through the Taiwan Strait demonstrates the commitment of the United States and our allies and partners to a free and open Indo-Pacific,” the US Navy said.
US naval ships frequently sail through the Taiwan Strait, but it is rare for such a mission to be conducted alongside another country’s ships.
The last time a joint US-Canada passage through the strait occurred was in September last year.
The mission took place as the US and Chinese defense leaders were attending a major regional security summit in Singapore.
The Canadian military confirmed the passage on Twitter yesterday, saying that the US and Canada are “partners [that] operate for peace and security in the region.”
There was no immediate response to the passage from China’s military, which routinely denounces such actions as a US effort to stir up tensions.
Beijing has been aggressively ramping up pressure on Taiwan with military exercises since then-US House of Representatives speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taipei in August last year, leading to growing concern among stakeholders in the region, including Washington.
Additional reporting by Reuters
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