US and Canada Navies Navigate Taiwan Strait Following Chinese Military Exercises Around Taiwan

October 21, 2024 TruthUSA

The international community’s navigational rights and freedoms in the Taiwan Strait should not be limited,

A U.S. guided-missile destroyer and a Canadian frigate sailed through the Taiwan Strait on Oct. 20, less than a week after communist China conducted military exercises around Taiwan.

The U.S. Navy’s 7th Fleet issued a statement on Sunday saying that the destroyer USS Higgins and the Canadian frigate HMCS Vancouver made a “routine” transit a day earlier “through waters where high-seas freedom of navigation and overflight apply in accordance with international law.”

The transit through the Taiwan Strait, one of the busiest waterways in the world, demonstrated Washington’s and Ottawa’s “commitment to upholding freedom of navigation” for all countries, the statement reads.

“The international community’s navigational rights and freedoms in the Taiwan Strait should not be limited. The United States rejects any assertion of sovereignty or jurisdiction that is inconsistent with freedoms of navigations, overflight, and other lawful uses of the sea and air,” it adds.

Tensions in the Taiwan Strait are escalating due to the Chinese regime’s continued coercion and military threats against Taiwan. On Oct. 14, China launched a large-scale, one-day military exercise around the island, deploying its navy, air force, rocket force, and coast guard.

The Chinese military operation drew international condemnation, with the Pentagon calling it “irresponsible, disproportionate, and destabilizing.”

Source link