‘Very unfriendly’ US sails two warships in Taiwan Strait
THE US sailed two of its navy warships through the Taiwan Strait for the first time since Nancy Pelosi’s contentious visit.
USS Antietam and USS Chancellorsville conducted “routine” transit of the Taiwan Strait yesterday, a navy spokesman said.
The US regularly sends its warships through the waterway in what it calls “freedom of navigation” operations in international waters, but the exercise was the first since the US House Speaker visited Taiwan at the start of the month in a move that infuriated Beijing and provoked large-scale drills.
China routinely objects to foreign military vessels sailing through the Taiwan Strait, a 100-mile-wide waterway that divides China and Taiwan and its military yesterday said it was tracking the ships.
“Troops of the (Eastern) Theater Command are on high alert and ready to foil any provocation at any time,” Senior Col Shi Yi, spokesman for the People Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command, said.
Hu Xijin, a nationalist commentator in China, wrote on Twitter that the transit “reminds us the US is a very unfriendly force”.
He added that resolving the “Taiwan question” – referring to China’s claims to Taiwan and its vow to eventually control the self-governing island – should be sped up to stop “external forces … undermining China’s rise.”
Beijing reacted angrily earlier this month when Ms Pelosi became the highest-level American official to set foot in Taiwan in 25 years. Beijing conducted days of live-fire military exercises around the island after she left.
The US has shown unprecedented support for Taiwan in recent years as Beijing has increased military, economic and diplomatic pressure on the island and its government.
This month, three delegations have visited Taipei, including Ms Pelosi’s.
On Saturday, visiting Senator Marsha Blackburn called Taiwan America’s “strongest partner in the Indo-pacific”.
India appeared to criticise China’s actions towards Taiwan by referring for the first time to what it called the “militarisation of the Taiwan Strait”.
Relations between Beijing and Delhi have worsened since troop clashes on their Himalayan border in 2020.