TAIPEI (Dispatches) — A U.S. Navy guided-missile cruiser transited through the Taiwan Strait on Tuesday, marking the second appearance by an American warship in two weeks and coming two days after China had conducted war games in the region.
The USS Port Royal guided-missile cruiser made a transit through the Taiwan Straits with the U.S. publicly hyping the move, said Senior Colonel Shi Yi, spokesperson for the PLA Eastern Theater Command, on Wednesday, CGTN reported.
This is the second Taiwan Straits transit completed by a U.S. naval ship in the past two weeks. USS Sampson (DDG-102) went through the straits on April 26.
The U.S. has repeatedly staged such provocations, sent a wrong signal to the “Taiwan independence” forces, and deliberately increased tensions across the Taiwan Straits, Shi said.
Beijing claims sovereignty over the Chinese Taipei, and under the ‘One China’ policy, virtually all countries recognize that sovereignty. The island, however, has been self-ruled since 1950.
The United States, though claiming to abide by the ‘Once China’ policy, has long courted the Chinese Taipei and sold weapons to the self-governed island in an attempt to unnerve Beijing.
The latest incident follows a large-scale military exercise by China in the waters surrounding the island on Monday.
The drill was conducted near Taiwan to improve joint combat operations, the People’s Liberation Army said after the Chinese-claimed island reported a spike in activity.
Meanwhile, the Taipei’s Defense Ministry late on Tuesday said a single Chinese WZ-10 attack helicopter briefly crossed the strait’s unofficial midline. It also reported that two Chinese KA-28 anti-submarine helicopters were spotted in an area at the top part of the South China Sea.
China sees Taiwan as the most sensitive and important issue in its relations with the United States. The ties have grown tense in recent years, with the world’s two largest economies clashing over a range of issues, including trade, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and military activities in the South China Sea.
A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian slammed the United States for changing wording related to Taiwan on its State Department website, saying the move will hollow out the one-China principle and will backfire.
He made the remarks when asked to comment on a recent update to the Taiwan fact sheet displayed on the website of the U.S. Department of State, which removes wording both on not supporting Taiwan independence and on acknowledging China’s position that Taiwan is part of China, Xinhua news agency reported.
“There is but one China in the world, and Taiwan is an inalienable part of China’s territory, with the Government of the People’s Republic of China as the sole legal government of China,” Zhao said, noting that these facts are the consensus of the international community and are universally recognized norms governing international relations.