Taipei: Two US Navy warships crossed the Taiwan Strait on Sunday for the first time since US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan in mid-August. The incident of US Navy warships passing through the Taiwan Strait comes at a time when tensions between China and the US over Taiwan are at their peak.
The US Seventh Fleet, the US Seventh Fleet, said that the USS Antietam and USS Chancellorsville passed through the Taiwan Strait during their routine visit, amid the already prevailing tensions over the strait. The US Seventh Fleet said the ships “passed through a corridor in a strait beyond the territorial waters of any coastal country.”
It is noteworthy that China, upset by Pelosi’s recent visit to Taiwan, has sent several warships and several Chinese fighters near its airspace in the Taiwan Strait and Taiwanese waters. China has also fired long-range missiles. China has also conducted several military exercises in the strait, seeking to punish Taiwan. Actually, China claims its claim on Taiwan and opposes the travel of people belonging to the government of any other country here.
At the same time, the US regularly sends ships to the Taiwan Strait to demonstrate its right to freedom of navigation. China said it was monitoring the movement of American warships. Senior Colonel Xi Yi, spokesman for China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Eastern Theater Command, said, “The troops of the Army’s (Eastern) Theater Command are alert and ready to thwart any provocation at any time. ” It is noteworthy that this 100-mile-wide strait separates Taiwan from China.
