US warships challenge China’s claim to total control of Taiwan Strait





CHINA claims total ownership over the narrow waterway between it and Taiwan. International law sees things differently. So the US just sent two warships through the gap to prove a point — and make a statement.

It’s the second such US naval operation this year.

It’s likely to inflame relations with Beijing even further.

But increasingly isolated democratic Taiwan will see it as a sign of support by US President Donald Trump’s government.

Beijing, however, regards democratic Taiwan to be a breakaway province still within the umbrella of its international foreign policy. But the island only came under Chinese control after it was taken from the Japanese after World War II, and the Republican Chinese government — fleeing the Communist revolution — fled there in the late 1940s.

The presence of the destroyer USS Curtis Wilber and the cruiser USS Antietam sends a double-barrelled message to Beijing: that it recognises Taiwan’s self governance, and that it rejects China’s increasing attempts to impose total sovereignty over vast waterways such as the East and South China Seas (both linked by the Taiwan Strait).



A FREE AND OPEN INDO-PACIFIC
US Pacific Fleet deputy spokesman Commander Nate Christensen said the ships’ transit demonstrates his nation’s commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific.

“The US Navy will continue to fly, sail and operate anywhere international law allows,” Commander Christensen said in a statement issued overnight.

Pentagon spokesman Colonel Rob Manning added that the US warships had “maintained co-ordination and contact with the appropriate nations, authorities and parties”. He said it was “certainly not the Department’s intention to raise tensions or any kind of escalation”.

Taiwan’s defence ministry said it closely monitored the operation and was able to maintain the security of the seas and the airspace.

The Pentagon added the two destroyers had not reported any “unsafe and unprofessional encounters with any Chinese vessels” during the transit. Shadowing Chinese warships remained at a safe distance.



This is in contrast to recent incidents in the South China Sea where US and British warships have reported close encounters with Chinese vessels attempting to force them out of contested waterways. Earlier this month, a Chinese destroyer almost collided with a US warship in an encounter during a freedom-of-navigation exercise near the Spratly Islands. The Pentagon called the incident“unsafe”, while Beijing labelled it “provocative”.

There was no immediate comment from China.

The US Navy conducted a similar mission in the strait’s international waters in July, which had been the first such voyage in about a year.

The latest operation shows the US Navy is increasing the pace of strait passages.


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