China mentioned on Thursday that its troops are on high alert constantly after the U.S. and the Canadian war vessels sailed via the Taiwan Strait, the second joint passage in about two months.
Rafael Peralta, a destroyer that belongs to the Arleigh Burke-class destroyer, and Royal Canada’s Navy’s frigate that belongs to Halifax class, the HMCS Ottawa, had conducted one “routine” transit via the strait on Wednesday, per the U.S. Navy.
The troops are on high alert continuously and will also firmly safeguard national sovereignty as well as security, stability, and regional peace, Colonel Shi Yi, a spokesman associated with China’s Eastern Theatre Command, mentioned in a statement.
Shi further slammed the most recent transit as one “public hype” and said its air and naval forces had been trailing the whole course.
The vessels’ passage came through after the two war vessels that belonged to Canada and the U.S. sailed via the narrow waterway that separated the island from mainland China on September 9.
The U.S., with its Western allies, has strengthened the freedom of navigation crossings by naval vessels in both the Taiwan Strait and the disputed South China Sea to reinforce that the two are international waterways, further angering Beijing.
The Seventh Fleet stated that the transit was made following international law and via a corridor within the Strait that’s beyond the territorial sea of a coastal State.
The Taiwanese defence ministry stated on Thursday that it had been monitoring the passage closely on Wednesday night but did mention that the situation has been normal.
China, which has been claiming Taiwan as its territory to be seized one day, has bolstered its military as well as political pressure on the island as the relations have plunged in recent years.
In September 2023, China sent in 103 aeroplanes around Taiwan in a 24-hour phase that Taipei calls a recent high.
Source : Marine Insight
