BEIJING(Dispatches) - China has called the United States the region’s “greatest creator of risks” after a U.S. warship again sailed through the Taiwan Strait, the narrow waterway that separates mainland China from the self-ruled island of Taiwan.
The U.S. Navy’s 7th fleet said its Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Curtis Wilbur conducted a “routine” transit through the Taiwan Strait.
In a statement, the 7th fleet said the “ship’s transit through the Taiwan Strait demonstrates the U.S. commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific”.
China, which claims sovereignty over Taiwan, said its forces monitored the vessel through the sensitive waterway and issued a warning.
“The U.S. side is intentionally playing the same old tricks and creating trouble and disrupting things in the Taiwan Strait,” said the People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theatre Command. This “fully shows that the United States is the greatest creator of risks for regional security, and we are resolutely opposed to this”.
Last week, Taiwan said 28 Chinese air force aircraft, including fighters and nuclear-capable bombers, entered Taiwan’s air defence identification zone (ADIZ) in the largest reported incursion to date.
The U.S. Navy has been conducting transits through the Taiwan Strait every month or so.
The USS Curtis Wilbur also transited the strait a month ago, prompting China to accuse Washington of threatening peace and stability in the region.