A Canadian warship last week transited the Taiwan Strait shortly before Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi’s (王毅) scheduled visit to Canada, the Canadian Department of National Defense said yesterday, despite earlier warnings from Beijing to stay away from the waterway.
“On May 22, 2026, HMCS Charlottetown conducted a routine transit through the Taiwan Strait, which was completed on May 23, 2026,” department spokeswoman Andree-Anne Poulin was quoted as saying by the Globe and Mail yesterday.
The warship was not accompanied by any allied countries’ ships, the department said.
Photo: AP
Wang was yesterday scheduled to arrive in Ottawa and stay until tomorrow, marking the first visit of a Chinese foreign minister to Canada in a decade as the countries seek to expand bilateral cooperation and trade amid rising US protectionism and tariff pressure, the report said.
In late April, Chinese Ambassador to Canada Wang Di (王鏑) said in an interview with the Globe and Mail that if Canada continues sending warships through the Taiwan Strait or Canadian lawmakers continue visiting Taiwan and meeting with its government, it could damage the new partnership between Beijing and Ottawa.
While Canada is seeking to expand exports and attract foreign investment, with China seen as a key market, Canadian Minister of National Defense David McGuinty earlier this month said that Canada views the Taiwan Strait as international waters, the report said.
“International waters” refers to the concept under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea that straits used for international navigation are subject to transit passage rights, allowing warships to pass through freely without needing prior approval from coastal states, it said.
Beijing views Taiwan as part of China and considers the Taiwan Strait to be an internal waterway, the report added.
Canadian lawmaker Michael Chong (莊文浩), who earlier this month traveled to Taiwan and met with President William Lai (賴清德), welcomed the Canadian warship’s transit, it said.
“I think the government had to signal that it wasn’t going to comply with Beijing’s unreasonable demand,” Chong was quoted as saying.
From 2018 until former Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau stepped down last year, Canadian warships transited the Taiwan Strait 11 times, despite objections from Beijing, the report said.
The most recent passage marks the second time a Canadian ship has gone through the Strait under Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney’s administration, with a frigate making a previous trip in September last year along with an Australian destroyer, it said.
Countries across the region, including Taiwan, Australia, China, Japan and the US, are closely monitoring Canada’s actions in the South China Sea and East China Sea, Vina Nadjibulla, vice president of research and strategy at the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada, was quoted as saying.
“It shows that Canada is committed to upholding international law and ensuring that international waterways, such as Taiwan Strait, are free for passage for all, including Canada,” Nadjibulla said.
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