US Navy Warship Enters Taiwan Strait
New Delhi: Two US Navy warships have entered the Taiwan Strait for the first time after China’s military drills around the island. This is the first such transit since U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan.
The US 7th Fleet in Japan in a statement said, “The USS Antietam and USS Chancellorsville were making their voyage “through waters where high seas freedoms of navigation and overflight apply following the international law,”
“These ships (are transiting) through a corridor in the strait that is beyond the territorial sea of any coastal state. The ships’ transit through the Taiwan Strait demonstrates the United States’ commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific. The United States military flies, sails, and operates anywhere international law allows,” the statement added.
China conducted military exercises in the strait as it sought to punish Taiwan after Pelosi’s visit despite Beijing’s threats. China has sent several warships sailing in the Taiwan strait after Pelosi’s visit as well as sending warplanes and firing long-range missiles.
Taiwan and China are divided by a 110-mile strait, Beijing claims sovereignty over Taiwan despite China’s ruling Communist Party never having controlled the island, it considers the strait part of its “internal waters.”
Meanwhile, the US Navy said that most of the strait is in international waters.
The Taiwan region’s defense authority earlier said, eight PLA Navy vessels and 35 PLA aircraft were detected around the island on Friday, with 18 of the detected aircraft (SU-30, J-11, J-16, and J-10) having flown on the east part of the median line of the Taiwan Straits and the island’s air defense identification zone (ADIZ).
(Vinayak)
