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Exclusive | US warships made 92 trips through the Taiwan Strait since 2007
- Figures obtained by the South China Morning Post show the extent of operations carried out in the sensitive waterway between 2007 and April 2019
- Two US destroyers passed through the strait on Sunday and Monday, prompting Beijing to express ‘concern’ over the transits and describe the issue of Taiwan as ‘the most important sensitive issue in Sino-US relations’
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Why you can trust SCMP
United States warships have made 92 trips through the Taiwan Strait in a little over a decade, figures obtained exclusively by the South China Morning Post reveal, offering an unprecedented big-picture view of Washington’s movements in the sensitive waterway.
The figures from the US Pacific Fleet show the extent of operations carried out in the waters between 2007 and April 2019.
The US does not have formal relations with Taiwan, which Beijing considers a renegade province, but it is legally bound to support its defence in the event of an attack and is its main supplier of arms.
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Although US President Donald Trump has signalled support for Taiwan – including taking an unprecedented phone call from Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen when he was president-elect – data obtained by the Post shows transits through the strait increased during the Obama administration, reaching double digits in 2012, 2013, 2015, and 2016.
The number of passages through the strait peaked at 12 in 2016, the same year Tsai took power in Taiwan, straining relations with Beijing.
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