US, Canadian Warships Sail Through Taiwan Strait for 2nd Time in A Year

By Staff, Agencies

A US Navy warship and a Canadian frigate made a routine transit through the Taiwan Strait on Tuesday, the militaries of both nations said, at a time of heightened military tension between Beijing and Taipei.

The transit was the second in a month by a US Navy ship, and the second jointly by the United States and Canada in less than a year, since October 2021.

While China condemned the mission, saying its forces "warned" the ships, recent years have seen US warships, and occasionally those of allied nations such as Britain and Canada, routinely sail through the strait.

Such trips anger China, which claims Taiwan over the objections of the island's democratically elected government.

"Cooperation like this represents the centerpiece of our approach to a secure and prosperous region," the US Navy said in a statement.

The Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer Higgins and the Royal Canadian Navy's Halifax-class frigate Vancouver made the transit through a corridor in the strait that is beyond the territorial sea of any coastal state, it added.

Canadian Defense Minister Anita Anand said that as a Pacific nation, her country was deeply committed to upholding global stability and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific region.

"Today's routine Taiwan Strait transit demonstrates our commitment to a free, open and inclusive Indo-Pacific," she said in a statement.