China hits out at US Navy ‘provocation’ after warship transits Taiwan Strait
- PLA says guided-missile destroyer’s passage through the waterway on Tuesday endangered peace and stability in the region
- Both sides recognise the strait may become ‘a dangerous place’ if tensions keep rising, according to analyst
The US Navy’s 7th Fleet said the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Curtis Wilbur had conducted a “routine Taiwan Strait transit” on Tuesday, in accordance with international law.
“The ship’s transit through the Taiwan Strait demonstrates the US commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific,” the statement said. “The US military will continue to fly, sail and operate anywhere international law allows.”
PLA Eastern Theatre Command spokesman Senior Colonel Zhang Chunhui on Wednesday called the latest passage through the strait “a provocation”.
“The US move sends the wrong signals to Taiwanese independence-leaning forces, deliberately disrupting and sabotaging the regional situation and endangering peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait,” he said.
While the warship was transiting the strait, US anti-submarine patrol and reconnaissance aircraft and a spy plane were flying over the South China Sea, according to the South China Sea Strategic Situation Probing Initiative. The Beijing-based think tank, which monitors military activity in the region, tweeted that the aircraft were “probably providing the intelligence support for the warship”.
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Shi Yinhong, a professor of international relations at Renmin University of China in Beijing, said both the PLA and the US military recognised that the Taiwan Strait could become “a dangerous place” if tensions continued to rise.
“But it seems like the two militaries are using another approach … with routine transits and warnings becoming the norm since then.”
Shi said the fact the response came from the PLA rather than the Chinese defence ministry meant “the situation is not so bad”.
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Taipei-based defence expert and media commentator Chi Le-yi said the warship’s passage could be seen as a message that Washington would keep its promise to maintain peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait.
“The US transit aims to warn the Chinese Communist Party not to miscalculate the current situation, and it’s also an exhortation to the PLA not to be rash,” Chi said.
He noted that the US warship had avoided crossing over the median line of the strait, the unofficial boundary between Taiwan and mainland China.
“If US warships pass that midline, the PLA would have an excuse to make a critical response,” Chi said.