Global Courant
TAIPEI (Reuters) – A US Coast Guard vessel passed through the Taiwan Strait on Tuesday, the US Navy’s 7th Fleet reported Thursday.
The strait, which separates China from the democratically-governed island of Taiwan, is a frequent source of tension as Beijing ramps up its political and military pressure to force Taipei to accept Chinese sovereignty.
The U.S. Navy’s 7th Fleet said national security cutter USCGC Stratton on Tuesday conducted a “routine” transit through the Taiwan Strait “through waters where freedom of navigation and overflight on the high seas applies in accordance with international law.” .
“Stratton’s 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 wherever international law permits,” the 7th Fleet added in its declaration.
The mission, which neither China nor Taiwan has commented on yet, took place the day after Blinken finished a visit to Beijing in which the two countries agreed to stabilize their intense rivalry so it would not spiral into conflict, but failed to trigger a major breakthrough. .
US military ships, and sometimes those of its allies, have routinely passed through the strait in recent years, angering China, which sees such missions as provocation.
This month, the US Navy released video of an “unsafe interaction” in the strait, in which a Chinese warship crossed ahead of a US destroyer operating with a Canadian warship.
The Taiwanese military reports almost daily Chinese incursions into the strait, mostly fighter jets crossing the centerline of the waterway, which once served as an unofficial barrier between the two.
On Wednesday, Taiwan said Chinese warships led by the aircraft carrier Shandong were passing through the strait.
(Edited by Gerry Doyle)
