US warships sail through the closely watched Taiwan Strait, turning up the pressure on Beijing
- It is the fourth time the Navy has publicly admitted to sending surface combatants through the strait since the US restarted the practice last summer
- It comes at a sensitive time in US-China relations, and is likely to draw criticism from Beijing
Two US Navy warships sailed through the Taiwan Strait on Thursday and Taiwan said multiple Chinese military jets flew near the southern tip of the self-ruled island to the West Pacific on the same day for a naval training exercise.
US guided missile destroyer USS McCampbell and the USNS Walter S. Diehl conducted “a routine” Taiwan Strait transit “in accordance with international law”, US Pacific Fleet spokesman Lt. Commander Tim Gorman told CNN.
“The ships’ transit through the Taiwan Strait demonstrates the US commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific,” Gorman said. “The US Navy will continue to fly, sail and operate anywhere international law allows.”
The US Navy sailed two ships through the Strait in October and November, a manoeuvre that was followed by multiple Chinese warships sailing into the area.
The two US warships’ latest voyage is expected to further disrupt already rocky China-US relations. Beijing and Washington are embroiled in a trade war that augurs to seriously damage both economies unless negotiators from both sides can reach an agreement before a 90-day truce called in December expires on March 1.
Taiwan’s Ministry of Defence confirmed two US warships did sail through the Strait, and that the excursion was continuing as of Thursday night.
Separately, the ministry said the People’s Liberation Army Air Force on Thursday had military aircraft, including H6 jet bombers and KJ500 Airborne Early Warning planes, fly through the Bashi Channel, between the island’s southern tip and the Philippines, to the West Pacific.
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“The PLA aircraft returned to their base after completing their long-distance training exercise,” a spokesman said. The PLA conducted a similar exercise last week.
The moves by the Chinese and US navies came as the mainland’s nationwide state broadcaster CCTV reported on Thursday that the PLA’s Southern Theatre was conducting a naval training exercise in the West Pacific.
The USS McCampbell, an Arleigh-Burke-class guided-missile destroyer, completed a joint operation with the British Royal Navy frigate, the HMS Argyll, in the South China Sea, according to US Pacific Fleet. It was the two navies’ first joint drill in the region since 2010.
Both sides said the joint exercise signalled their shared emphasis on regional peace and stability to “address common security priorities”.
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Admiral John Richardson, the US Chief of Naval Operations, said in Tokyo last Friday that US Navy ships would continue to operate freely in international waters. Those vessels would include US aircraft carriers sailing through the Taiwan Strait, Richardson said, adding that the US considers the Taiwan Strait to be international waters.
“We don’t see any kind of limitation on whatever type of ship could pass through those waters,” he said.
Additional reporting by Sarah Zheng
