US Navy chief refuses to rule out sending carrier through Taiwan Strait despite China’s growing military capabilities
- Admiral John Richardson says there are ‘no limitations’ on type of ship that can pass through what US maintains are international waters
- US has stepped up operations in area as China’s military modernisation poses greater threat to American warships
The US Navy has not ruled out sending an aircraft carrier through the Taiwan Strait, despite military technology advances by China that pose a greater threat to its warships than ever before, the chief of America’s naval operations said on Friday.
Washington sent ships through the strategic waterway that separates Taiwan from the Chinese mainland three times last year as it makes more frequent transits of the strait, but it has not dispatched a carrier in more than 10 years.
During that time, China has modernised its forces with missiles designed to strike enemy ships.
“We don’t really see any kind of limitation on whatever type of ship could pass through those waters,” Admiral John Richardson told reporters in Tokyo, when asked if more advanced Chinese weapons posed too great a risk.
“We see the Taiwan Strait as another [stretch of] international waters, so that’s why we do the transits.”
Aircraft carriers, typically equipped with about 80 aircraft and crews of about 5,000, are key to the US military’s ability to project power globally.