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China protests after US Navy jet flies through Taiwan Strait
- Navy reconnaissance plane flyover was a ‘commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific’, according to the US
- Beijing says the US flight deliberately ‘undermined peace and stability’
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China promptly issued a protest on Monday after a US Navy P-8A Poseidon reconnaissance plane flew through the Taiwan Strait in what the Seventh Fleet said was a show of the US “commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific”.
Beijing said the US action “deliberately interrupted and undermined peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait” and it firmly opposed the operation.
The US Seventh Fleet said it considered the Taiwan Strait an international waterway, and that operations like Monday’s transit would continue.
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“The United States will continue to fly, sail, and operate anywhere international law allows including within the Taiwan Strait,” it said, adding that the plane was operating in “international airspace”.
“By operating within the Taiwan Strait in accordance with international law, the United States upholds the navigational rights and freedoms of all nations.”
01:47
Shanghai officials visit Taipei as local government exchanges resume after 3-year hiatus
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According to a statement issued by the People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) Eastern Theatre Command, which oversees areas that include the Taiwan Strait, Chinese fighter jets were scrambled to “follow, monitor and guard against” the US aircraft’s operation and “had everything under control”.
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