Canadian warship in Taiwan Strait ‘undermines peace: China
GUNBOAT DIPLOMACY & NATO IMPERIALISM
TEHRAN, Feb. 17 (MNA) – A Canadian warship passing through the Taiwan Strait “undermines peace” in the sensitive waterway, China’s military said Monday.
Beijing views self-ruled Taiwan as a renegade province and claims jurisdiction over the body of water that separates the island from the Chinese mainland, AFP reported.
The Canadian vessel passed through the strait on Sunday and was the first to do so this year, Taiwan’s foreign ministry said, coming days after two US ships made the passage.
Canada’s actions “deliberately stir up trouble and undermine peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait,” Li Xi, a spokesperson for the Eastern Theater Command of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA), said in a statement.
The army had dispatched its naval and air forces to monitor and guard the passage of the ship, Li said, adding that the troops will “resolutely counter all threats and provocations.”
The United States and its allies regularly pass through the 180-kilometer (112-mile) strait to reinforce its status as an international waterway, angering China.
A US destroyer and an ocean survey ship traveled through the strait starting on February 10, drawing criticism from China’s military, which said it sent the “wrong signal and increased security risks.”
Washington’s latest passage through the strait was the first since US President Donald Trump took office in January.
Taiwan’s defense ministry, meanwhile, said it recorded 41 Chinese aircraft and nine warships near the island in the 24 hours to 6:00 am on Monday.
Beijing has never ruled Taiwan, but it claims the island as part of its territory and has threatened to bring it under its control by force.
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China says Canada 'deliberately stirred up trouble' with warship sailing in Taiwan Strait
Canadian ship was monitored and warned by naval and air forces, China says
China's military on Monday condemned the sailing of a Canadian warship in the Taiwan Strait, saying its air and naval forces had monitored and warned the ship, a mission that came just a few days after U.S. navy ships made a similar mission.
The U.S. navy, and occasionally ships from allied countries like Canada, Britain and France, transits the strait about once a month. China, which claims Taiwan as its own territory, also says the strategic waterway belongs to it.
Canada's actions "deliberately stirred up trouble" and undermined peace and stability in the strait, the People's Liberation Army's Eastern Theatre Command said in a statement.
"Theatre forces maintain a high level of alert at all times and resolutely counter all threats and provocations," it added.
There was no immediate response by Global Affairs Canada to the Chinese statement.
Both the Chinese and Taiwanese governments identified the ship as HMCS Ottawa.
Taiwan's Defence Ministry said on Sunday that the ship had sailed in a northerly direction, adding that Taiwanese forces also kept watch.
Taiwan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs welcomed the sailing.
"Canada has once again taken concrete actions to defend the freedom, peace and openness of the Taiwan Strait and has demonstrated its firm position that the Taiwan Strait is international waters," it said on Sunday.
Last October, a U.S. and a Canadian warship sailed together through the strait, less than a week after China conducted a new round of war games around the island.
Taiwan's democratically elected government rejects Beijing's sovereignty claims, saying only the island's people can decide their future.
Canadian warship’s Taiwan Straits transit
By Liu Xuanzun
A view of the Taiwan Straits is seen from Xiamen port, in East China's Fujian Province. Photo: IC
The island of Taiwan's external affairs authority said that a Canadian frigate sailed through the Taiwan Straits on Sunday while its defense authority claimed it detected 24 Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) aircraft conducting joint training with PLA vessels on the same day. A Chinese mainland expert said on Sunday that the Canadian warship sent wrong signals to "Taiwan independence" secessionist forces, but posed little military threat.
Taiwan's external affairs authority said in a statement that the Royal Canadian Navy's Halifax-class frigate HMCS Ottawa sailed through the Taiwan Straits on Sunday, AFP reported.
Citing the island's defense authority, AFP further claimed that 24 PLA aircraft, including fighter jets and drones, were detected carrying "joint combat readiness patrols" with military vessels around the island.
During the Canadian warship's passage, the PLA radioed the ship and warned it to change course, AFP reported, citing media on the island of Taiwan.
Song Zhongping, a Chinese mainland military expert, told the Global Times on Sunday that the Canadian warship's Taiwan Straits transit has sent wrong signals to Taiwan authorities, creating the illusion that they can rely on external countries in seeking "independence."
The Taiwan question concerns China's core interests, Song said, noting that China is fully capable of resolving the Taiwan question, and no one can prevent its resolution.
The HMCS Ottawa has been operating in waters near China since the beginning of the year. Canadian news outlet CTV National News reported that PLA warships tracked the Canadian frigate in the East China Sea and the South China Sea in January.
Song noted that a single Canadian warship poses little threat to China in military terms, and it is normal and legitimate that the PLA monitors its movements on China's doorsteps.
Less than a week earlier, the PLA announced that it monitored the transit of two US warships through the Taiwan Straits.
From February 10 to Wednesday, the US destroyer USS Ralph Johnson and the oceanographic survey ship USNS Bowditch transited the Taiwan Straits. The PLA Eastern Theater Command deployed naval and air forces to monitor the entire passage of the US vessels, effectively responding to and managing the situation, said Senior Captain Li Xi, spokesperson for the PLA Eastern Theater Command, on Wednesday.
The US' actions sent wrong signals and increased security risks. The Eastern Theater Command remains on high alert, resolutely safeguarding national sovereignty and security, as well as regional peace and stability, Li stressed.
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