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Yahoo
12-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
China tracks U.S. Navy transit through Taiwan Strait
Feb. 12 (UPI) -- The U.S. Navy sent two vessels to transit the Taiwan Strait for the first time since President Donald Trump took office, and China tracked their progress through the disputed seaway. The two vessels are the destroyer USS Ralph Johnson and the survey ship USNS Bowditch, which sailed through the Taiwan Strait on a north-to-south voyage lasting from Monday through Wednesday, USNI News reported. The Johnson is an Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer while the Bowditch is a Pathfinder-class survey vessel. "Ships transit between the East China Sea and the South China Sea via the Taiwan Strait and have done so for many years," Navy Commander Matthew, a spokesman for the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, said Wednesday in a statement. "The transit occurred through a corridor in the Taiwan Strait that is beyond any coastal state's territorial seas," Comer said. "Within this corridor, all nations enjoy high-seas freedom of navigation, overflight and other internationally lawful uses of the sea related to these freedoms." The Chinese Army, Navy and Air Force tracked the two U.S. Navy vessels during their three-day voyage. "The U.S.'s actions sent the wrong signals and increased security risks," China's People's Liberation Army spokesman Capt. Li Xi said in a statement. "The troops of the Chinese PLA Eastern Theater Command remain on high alert and all times to resolutely safeguard China's sovereignty and security as well as regional peace and stability," Xi said. China routinely tracks U.S. Navy transits through the Taiwan Strait, which last occurred in October when the USS Higgins and Canadian frigate HMCS Vancouver undertook the voyage. China has laid claim to the Taiwan Strait and Taiwan, which it considers to be part of China's sovereign territory. The Taiwan Strait spans 111 miles and is considered an international waterway. The U.S. Navy and naval forces of allied nations commonly traverse the strait to challenge China's territorial claims and affirm its status as an international waterway controlled by no nation. China also routinely conducts military drills and overflights near Taiwan, and Chinese officials have declared their intent to re-unify with Taiwan by 2047. The United States and Taiwan are closely allied via the Taiwan Relations Act, which enables the United States to provide Taiwan with arms to defend the island nation and aggression from China or other nations. Former President Joe Biden repeatedly said the United States would intervene militarily if China were to attack Taiwan.
LBCI
12-02-2025
- Politics
- LBCI
First US Navy ships sail through Taiwan Strait since Trump's inauguration
Two U.S. Navy ships sailed through the sensitive Taiwan Strait this week in the first such mission since President Donald Trump took office last month, drawing an angry reaction from China, which said the mission increased security risks. The U.S. Navy, occasionally accompanied by ships from allied countries, transits the strait about once a month. China, which claims Taiwan as its own territory, says the strategic waterway belongs to it. The U.S. Navy said the vessels were the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Ralph Johnson and Pathfinder-class survey ship, USNS Bowditch. The ships carried out a north-to-south transit February 10-12, it said. "The transit occurred through a corridor in the Taiwan Strait that is beyond any coastal state's territorial seas," said Navy Commander Matthew Comer, a spokesperson at the U.S. military's Indo-Pacific Command. "Within this corridor all nations enjoy high-seas freedom of navigation, overflight, and other internationally lawful uses of the sea related to these freedoms." China's military said that Chinese forces had been dispatched to keep watch. "The U.S. action sends the wrong signals and increases security risks," the Eastern Theatre Command of the People's Liberation Army said in a statement early Wednesday. China considers Taiwan its most important diplomatic issue and it is regularly a stumbling block in Sino-U.S. relations. Reuters
Japan Times
12-02-2025
- Politics
- Japan Times
U.S. warship sails through Taiwan Strait for first time since Trump inauguration
Two U.S. Navy ships sailed through the Taiwan Strait this week — the first transit of the waterway under U.S. President Donald Trump's new administration — prompting an angry rebuke from China. The U.S. Navy said the guided-missile destroyer USS Ralph Johnson and survey ship USNS Bowditch had carried out a 'routine north-to-south Taiwan Strait transit' from Monday to Wednesday. 'Ships transit between the East China Sea and the South China Sea via the Taiwan Strait and have done so for many years,' U.S. Indo-Pacific Command spokesman Cmdr. Matthew Comer told The Japan Times. 'The transit occurred through a corridor in the Taiwan Strait that is beyond any coastal state's territorial seas. Within this corridor all nations enjoy high-seas freedom of navigation, overflight and other internationally lawful uses of the sea related to these freedoms.' China and Taiwan also confirmed the transit, with Beijing deploying naval and air forces 'to monitor the entire passage of the U.S. vessels.' 'The actions of the U.S. sent the wrong signals and increased security risks,' Senior Capt. Li Xi, spokesperson for the Chinese military's Eastern Theater Command, said in a statement Wednesday. Beijing views Taiwan — the democratic island that it says is a renegade province that must be united with the mainland, by force if necessary — as the 'core of its core interests.' Much to China's chagrin, the U.S. Navy routinely sends ships through the Taiwan Strait, sometimes with other navies. Last September, Japan sent a Maritime Self-Defense Force destroyer through the strategic waterway for the first time ever following a series of unprecedented Chinese military moves inside Japanese airspace and waters. Beijing says the Taiwan Strait belongs to it — a position that Taipei and Washington dispute, having said the waterway is international waters. Asked about the transit, a spokesperson for China's Taiwan Affairs Office reiterated that Taiwan is a 'core interest' of China. 'We firmly oppose and will never allow any external interference,' spokesperson Zhu Fenglian said. 'We have the firm will, full confidence and sufficient ability to safeguard national sovereignty and territorial integrity.' The last publicly reported U.S. Navy mission in the strait came in late November, when a P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft flew over the waterway, while the last time a U.S. warship was confirmed to have sailed through the waterway was in October, part of a joint mission with Canada's navy. The latest transit may signal continuity of such sailings under Trump, who noted 'the importance of peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait' during his summit with Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba last week. The actions could soften claims by Trump on the campaign trail for the U.S. presidency last year that Taiwan should pay the U.S. more for 'protection' and that it had 'stolen' America's semiconductor business. The United States switched diplomatic recognition from Taipei to Beijing in 1979, but has maintained unofficial relations with Taiwan and is bound by law to supply the island with weapons to help it defend itself. While the U.S. has largely over the years maintained a policy of 'strategic ambiguity' as to whether or not it would come to Taiwan's defense in the event of any attack or invasion by China, former U.S. President Joe Biden — Trump's predecessor — repeatedly said that the United States would militarily defend the island.
Al Arabiya
12-02-2025
- Politics
- Al Arabiya
First US Navy ships sail through Taiwan Strait since Trump inauguration
Two US Navy ships sailed through the sensitive Taiwan Strait this week in the first such mission since President Donald Trump took office last month, drawing an angry reaction from China, which said the mission increased security risks. The US Navy, occasionally accompanied by ships from allied countries, transits the strait about once a month. China, which claims Taiwan as its own territory, says the strategic waterway belongs to it. The US Navy said the vessels were the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Ralph Johnson and Pathfinder-class survey ship, USNS Bowditch. The ships carried out a north-to-south transit February 10-12, it said. 'The transit occurred through a corridor in the Taiwan Strait that is beyond any coastal state's territorial seas,' said Navy Commander Matthew Comer, a spokesperson at the US military's Indo-Pacific Command. 'Within this corridor all nations enjoy high-seas freedom of navigation, overflight, and other internationally lawful uses of the sea related to these freedoms.' China's military said that Chinese forces had been dispatched to keep watch. 'The US action sends the wrong signals and increases security risks,' the Eastern Theatre Command of the People's Liberation Army said in a statement early Wednesday. China considers Taiwan its most important diplomatic issue and it is regularly a stumbling block in Sino-US relations. China this week complained to Japan over 'negative' references to China in a statement issued after a meeting between Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba. That statement called for 'maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait', and voiced support for 'Taiwan's meaningful participation in international organisations'. Asked in Beijing on Wednesday about the US warships, Zhu Fenglian, spokesperson for China's Taiwan Affairs Office, said that Taiwan was a 'core interest' for the country and that the United States should act with caution. 'We are resolutely opposed to this and will never allow any outside interference, and have the firm will, full confidence and capability to uphold the country's sovereignty and territorial integrity,' she said. Taiwan's defence ministry said its forces had also kept watch but noted the 'situation was as normal'. The last publicly acknowledged US Navy mission in the strait was in late November, when a P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft flew over the waterway. The last time a US Navy ship was confirmed to have sailed through the strait was in October, a joint mission with a Canadian warship. China's military operates daily in the strait as part of what Taiwan's government views as part of Beijing's pressure campaign. On Wednesday, Taiwan's defence ministry said that it had detected 30 Chinese military aircraft and seven navy ships operating around the island Taiwan President Lai Ching-te rejects Beijing's sovereignty claims, saying only Taiwan's people can decide their future.
Yahoo
12-02-2025
- General
- Yahoo
US Navy confirms 'routine' Taiwan Strait transit
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Navy confirmed on Tuesday two of its ships carried out a Taiwan Strait transit, calling it routine despite an angry reaction from Beijing. The Navy said the vessels were the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Ralph Johnson and Pathfinder-class survey ship USNS Bowditch. The ships carried out a north-to-south transit February 10-12, it said. "The transit occurred through a corridor in the Taiwan Strait that is beyond any coastal state's territorial seas," said Navy Commander Matthew Comer, a spokesperson at the U.S. military's Indo-Pacific Command. See for yourself — The Yodel is the go-to source for daily news, entertainment and feel-good stories. By signing up, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy. "Within this corridor all nations enjoy high-seas freedom of navigation, overflight, and other internationally lawful uses of the sea related to these freedoms."
