E-Paper
US warship sails by sensitive Taiwan Strait as its navy deploys carrier to Indo-Pacific
The US 7th Fleet’s guided missile destroyer USS John S McCain transited through the Taiwan Strait on Thursday while on a routine mission, the US Navy said.
A frontline US warship sailed through the Taiwan Strait on Thursday for the first time under the new Joe Biden administration, prompting a strong response from Beijing as the two countries cautiously test the waters to mend ties.
The 7th Fleet’s guided missile destroyer USS John S McCain transited through the Taiwan Strait on Thursday while on a routine mission, the US Navy said.
“The Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer USS John S. McCain (DDG 56) conducted a routine Taiwan Strait transit Feb 4 (local time) in accordance with international law,” Lt Joe Keiley, the 7th Fleet spokesperson, 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 will continue to fly, sail and operate anywhere international law allows,” Keiley said.
The warship is forward-deployed to the US 7th Fleet area of operations in support of security and stability in the Indo-Pacific region, the US Navy said.
Taiwan’s defence ministry confirmed the passage without identifying the vessel.
In Beijing, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said China was “closely monitoring” the situation.
Wang said China would “…continue to be on high alert at all times, respond to all threats and provocations at any moment, and will resolutely safeguard its sovereignty and territorial integrity”.
It is hoped that the United States will play a constructive role for regional peace and stability, not the other way around, he added.
Beijing views any ships passing through the strait, off its southern coast, as a breach of its sovereignty; the US and many other nations view the route as international waters open to all.
The development happened a day after the Pentagon announced that the USS Nimitz Carrier Strike Group was “…departing the Central Command area of responsibility and moving into the US Indo-Pacific region”.
“It is now in the 7th Fleet area of responsibility and can be called upon for operations, training, or humanitarian exercises there,” the Pentagon added.
Taiwan has been a major point of dispute between the two countries.
China claims the democratically-run Taiwan as its own territory and has repeatedly expressed anger as Washington stepped-up support for the island, including arms sales and sailing warships through the Taiwan Strait.
On December 31, two US warships including the same guided missile destroyer sailed through the Taiwan Strait, drawing protest from Beijing.
It was the second such mission in the last month of 2020 and came almost two weeks after a Chinese aircraft carrier group used the same waterway.
China’s defence ministry had criticised the trip as “provocation” and “a show of force”, adding Chinese ships and aircraft trailed the US ships.
The latest passage of the US warship comes two days after China’s top diplomat called for Beijing and Washington to put relations back on a predictable and constructive path, saying the US should stop meddling in China’s internal affairs, like Hong Kong and Tibet.
“The United States should stop interfering in Hong Kong, Tibet, Xinjiang and other issues regarding China’s territorial integrity and sovereignty,” Reuters news agency quoted Yang Jiechi, director of the Central Foreign Affairs Commission of the Communist Party of China, as saying.
Yang was the highest-ranking Chinese leader to speak on China-US relations since President Joe Biden took office.
Yang added China never meddles with US internal affairs, including its elections.
