US Navy reconnaissance plane passes through Taiwan Strait, closely watched by Chinese jets
- US Navy’s 7th Fleet says P-8A Poseidon transited strait via international airspace on Thursday
- PLA sent fighter aircraft to monitor its activities, says Eastern Theatre Command spokesman
Army Colonel Shi Yi, a spokesman for China’s Eastern Theatre Command, announced that the passage through the Taiwan Strait by the United States P-8A Poseidon anti-submarine patrol aircraft was “publicly hyped”, and that the PLA had sent fighter aircraft to monitor its activities.
“The Eastern Theatre Command of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army organised fighter planes to monitor the passage of US aircraft and dealt with them in accordance with laws and regulations,” Shi said.
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“Troops in the theatre remain on high alert at all times and resolutely safeguard national sovereignty and security as well as regional peace and stability.”
Earlier, the US Navy’s 7th Fleet released a statement that the P-8A Poseidon transited the Taiwan Strait via international airspace on Thursday, saying its operations were within international law, upholding “the navigational rights and freedoms of all nations”.
“The aircraft’s transit of the Taiwan Strait demonstrates the United States’ commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific. The United States military flies, sails and operates anywhere international law allows,” the statement said.
