The New Zealand navy's largest ship last week encountered a Taiwanese warship as it sailed through the sensitive Taiwan Strait, the country's armed forces said today, as they published a rare photograph of what happened.
The oiler, the HMNZS Aotearoa, sailed from the South China Sea to the North Asian region via the Taiwan Strait on Friday last week, and was shadowed by seven different Chinese warships which maintained a safe and professional distance, the New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) previously said.
In a picture published on its Web site yesterday with a story about the ship's Asia mission, the NZDF showed a New Zealand sailor using binoculars to watch a warship in the distance, although it did not identify the ship.
Photo courtesy of the New Zealand Defence Force Web site
The ship was the Taiwanese warship the ROCS Cheng Kung which the HMNZS Aotearoa "briefly encountered" while in the Strait, an NZDF spokesperson told Reuters.
In Taiwan, the Ministry of National Defense declined immediate comment.
While Taiwan does monitor foreign warships in the Strait, it is highly unusual for a photo of a Taiwanese warship doing so to appear publicly.
The ROCS Cheng Kung is a heavily armed Taiwan-built frigate based on the Oliver Hazard Perry class of the US navy.
A senior Taiwanese security official briefed on the matter said that it is standard practice for Taiwan to provide an "escort" to foreign vessels from like-minded countries transiting the Strait, knowing that such ships are often harassed or subjected to mock attacks by China's military.
"It is to ensure that communist ships and aircraft are unable to further harass them," said the official, who requested anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter.
New Zealand, like most countries, has no formal diplomatic ties with Taiwan, but Taipei sees it as an important like-minded democratic partner and both maintain de facto embassies in each other's capitals.
US warships sail through the Strait every few months, and some US allies, such as Australia, Canada and the UK, have also made occasional transits in support of freedom of navigation.
Taiwan shares intelligence with international partners when they operate in those waters, National Security Bureau Director-General Tsai Ming-yen (蔡明彥) said this month.
China's military sometimes simulates attacks on foreign naval vessels in the Strait, he added.
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