Russian warships spotted off Taiwan’s east coast ‘on way home’ from Komodo drills
- Island’s military detected the two corvettes on Tuesday and tracked them as they headed north
- Defence ministry confirmed they did not enter 12-mile limit of territorial waters, analyst says
Beijing – which often criticises transits through the Taiwan Strait by foreign warships – has made no mention of the Russian warships’ passage.
04:39
Taiwan residents living within sight of mainland China voice concerns over live-fire drills
The Russian warships were believed to have taken part in the Komodo drills, held near the Indonesian island of Sulawesi in early June. Warships from 36 countries – including China, the US, Britain and South Korea – joined the exercises.
Drew Thompson, a visiting senior research fellow at the National University of Singapore’s Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, said Taiwan’s defence ministry had confirmed to him that the Russian warships “had not entered the 12-mile limit of Taiwan’s territorial waters”.
“I don’t think this will increase tensions, or Russia was trying to coerce Taiwan,” he said.
Thompson said the Russian warships were “exercising the freedom of navigation” and “on their way home” from the Komodo drills, which ended on June 8.