China slams US ship’s passage through Taiwan Strait

TAIPEI: China’s military criticised a US destroyer’s passage through the Taiwan Strait less than two weeks before the island’s new president takes office and while Washington and Beijing are making uneven efforts to restore regular military exchanges.

Navy Senior Capt. Li Xi, spokesperson for China’s Eastern theatre Command, accused the US of having “publicly hyped” the passage of the USS Halsey.

In a statement, Li said the command, which oversees operations around the strait, “organised naval and air forces to monitor” the ship’s transit.

The US Navy’s 7th Fleet said the Halsey “conducted a routine Taiwan Strait transit on May 8 through waters where high-seas freedoms of navigation and overflight apply in accordance with international law.”

The guided-missile destroyer transited through a corridor in the strait that is “beyond the territorial sea” of any coastal state, the fleet said in a statement.

“Halsey’s transit through the Taiwan Strait demonstrates the United States’ commitment to upholding freedom of navigation for all nations as a principle,” it said.

“No member of the international community should be intimidated or coerced into giving up their rights and freedoms.

The United States military flies, sails, and operates anywhere international law allows.”

China’s accusation that the transit was “publicly hyped” - essentially meaning it was played up for maximum political effect - has been standard practice when Beijing sees the announcements as a means of pushing back against China’s claim to some degree of control over who can pass freely through the strait.

There was no indication the US Navy had operated any differently in the latest case, nor that the Chinese response was any more vociferous.

Taiwan’s Defence Ministry said it was fully aware of the destroyer’s passage.

“Throughout the transit, the Taiwanese military was closely monitoring the surrounding sea and airspace, and the situation remained normal,” the ministry said.

The last such passage was on April 17, a day after US and Chinese defense chiefs held their first talks since November 2022 in an effort to reduce regional tensions.

Military-to-military contact stalled in August 2022, when Beijing suspended all such communication after then-house Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan.

China responded by firing missiles over Taiwan and staging a surge in military maneuvers, including what appeared to be a rehearsal of a naval and aerial blockade of the island.