US warship transits Taiwan Strait, leaves China fuming
BEIJING: China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) deployed surveillance ships and aircraft to tail a US warship which sailed through the narrow strait dividing the mainland and Taiwan on Tuesday morning.
It was the first such passage through the Taiwan Strait after President Xi Jinping and his US counterpart Joe Biden held a video summit earlier this month, and where the Chinese President warned Biden that encouraging Taiwanese independence would be “playing with fire”.
The Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer USS Milius’s passage through the Taiwan Strait on Tuesday was a routine transit, the US Seventh Fleet said in a statement. “The ship’s transit through the Taiwan Strait demonstrates the US commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific. The United States military flies, sails, and operates anywhere international law allows,” Lieutenant Nicholas Lingo said.
“This move by the US creates security risks and undermines regional stability. The theatre troops will take all necessary measures to resolutely counter all threats and provocations, and resolutely defend national sovereignty and territorial integrity,” Colonel Shi Yi, spokesperson for the PLA’s eastern theatre command said.
In Beijing, the Chinese foreign ministry echoed Yi’s views.
“US warships have repeatedly flaunted their strength and made provocations in the Taiwan Strait under the guise of freedom of navigation. This is not a promise of freedom and openness, but a deliberate interference and destruction of regional peace and stability,” ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said. “The US should immediately correct its mistakes, stop provoking troubles and playing with fire across the border, and play a constructive role for regional stability.”
China targets corporate backers of Taiwan govt China has said it will punish businesses and political donors with links to individuals supporting Taiwan independence after it fined Taiwanese conglomerate Far Eastern Group.
“Businesses and financial sponsors associated with supporters of Taiwan independence will be penalised according to law,” Taiwan Affairs Office spokeswoman Zhu Fenglian told reporters on Monday.
Meanwhile, Philippines’ defence minister Delfin Lorenzana on Tuesday accused the Chinese coastguard of “intimidation and harassment” after Philippine navy personnel were filmed and photographed unloading goods in the disputed South China Sea.