China tells US to respect its territorial integrity after USS Shiloh sails through Taiwan Strait
- Guided-missile cruiser headed north through the strategic waterway in a show of ‘the US commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific’
- It follows President Tsai Ing-wen’s landslide victory last weekend, after she campaigned on administration’s ‘record high’ relations with Washington
China said it closely followed and monitored a US Navy warship sailing through the Taiwan Strait on Friday, calling on the US to respect China’s territorial integrity.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang made the remarks after the Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser USS Shiloh conducted a “routine Taiwan Strait transit” on Thursday in the wake of the island’s presidential election.
“The issue of Taiwan is about China’s territorial integrity, and the most important and sensitive issue for China-US relations,” Geng said, adding the US should abide by the one-China principle.
Joe Keiley, a spokesman for the US 7th Fleet, on Friday said the USS Shiloh conducted a “routine Taiwan Strait transit” in a demonstration of “the US commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific”.
“The US Navy will continue to fly, sail and operate anywhere international law allows,” he said.
It said Taiwan’s military had a “full grasp during the entire process of the neighbouring seas, the air and naval spaces, and other relevant developments, with no abnormalities during the period so all citizens may be at ease”.