U.S. destroyer’s passage through the Taiwan Strait irritated Beijing

After a U.S. warship passed through the Taiwan Strait on Thursday as part of what the Pentagon asserted were “routine” operations, official Beijing reacted very negatively, calling on the United States to “stop provoking unrest” in the strait separating mainland China and the island of Taiwan.

In recent years, warships from the United States, and sometimes from allied countries such as Britain and Canada, have passed through the strait, incurring the wrath of China, which claims Taiwan over the objections of the democratically elected islanders’ government.

The U.S. military said in a statement that the Arleigh Burke-class missile destroyer Chung-Hoon was in strait waters.

“The passage of the Chung-Hoon through the Taiwan Strait demonstrates the United States’ commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific region,” the statement said.

In a statement, Liu Pengyu, a spokesman for the Chinese Embassy in Washington, said China strongly opposes the move and called on the United States to “immediately stop provoking unrest, escalating tensions and undermining peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait.”

“U.S. warships often ‘play with their muscles’ in the name of exercising freedom of navigation. This is not about preserving the freedom and openness of the region,” the Chinese side said in a statement. – “China will continue to be on high alert and ready to respond to all threats and provocations at any time, and will vigorously defend its national sovereignty and territorial integrity.

Taiwan’s Ministry of Defense said the warship passed in a northerly direction across the strait. The Taiwanese military followed the passage of the destroyer and did not notice anything unusual.

The Taiwan Strait has become a frequent source of military tension since the defeated government of the Republic of China fled to Taiwan in 1949 after defeating the Communists in the civil war that created the People’s Republic of China.

The United States has no formal diplomatic relations with Taiwan, but legally provides the self-governing island with the means to defend itself.

China has never ruled out the use of force to take control of Taiwan. Taiwanese authorities promise to defend the island in case of attack, claiming that Beijing’s claims to sovereignty are invalid because the People’s Republic of China has never ruled the territory.

Last month, a Chinese warplane approached within 3 meters of a U.S. Air Force plane in the South China Sea and forced it to take evasive maneuvers to avoid a collision in international airspace.

The United States has called the increasingly dangerous behavior of Chinese military pilots in international airspace a trend.