US, Canadian navies transit Taiwan Strait following Chinese military drills

A US Navy guided missile destroyer and a Canadian Navy frigate passed through the Taiwan Strait on a routine mission yesterday, Sunday, October 20, six days after a Chinese military drill which simulated a blockade of Taiwan.

According to a press release by the US 7th Fleet, the Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer USS Higgens (DDG 76) and Royal Canadian Navy Halifax-class frigate HMCS Vancouver (FFH 331) conducted a routine Taiwan Strait transit “through waters where high-seas freedom of navigation and overflight apply in accordance with international law.”

China’s Eastern Theatre Command confirmed that its forces closely monitored and alerted the foreign vessels during their passage. Denouncing the actions of the U.S. and Canada, Chinese officials characterized them as disruptive to the peace and stability of the Taiwan Strait.

The People’s Republic of China claims that Taiwan is part of its territory, and that the Taiwan Strait is an internal waterway belonging to China.

The PRC claim is not recognized by other countries, and the US Navy said that the transit was made “through a high-seas corridor in the Strait that is beyond the territorial sea of any coastal state.”

“Higgins and Vancouver’s transit through the Taiwan Strait demonstrated the United States’ and Canada’s commitment to upholding freedom of navigation for all nations as a principle. 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.”

Sailors on USS Higgens during transit of Taiwan Strait, Sunday. Picture credit: Trevor Hale/US Navy).

The transit came six days after a surprise simulated blockade of Taiwan by the PRC’s military forces last Monday (October 14), in which a record-breaking number of Chinese planes, and navy and coast guard ships surrounded Taiwan.

Military experts said that the blockade was not a mere response to comments made by Taiwan’s president Lai Ching-te in a National Day speech on October 10, but was a strong warning to the US not to intervene in any military action against Taiwan by China in the the Taiwan Strait.

Dr. Chang Ching told Fox News Digital that people are missing the big picture about the Chinese military drill. Chang pointed to publicly available military logs from Japan that tracked both Chinese and Russian ships over several days before the 13-hour exercise.

“The real target is the United States,” Chang told Fox News Digital. “They were using a very old Chinese strategy called ‘encircling the point/striking the reinforcement;’ in other words, practicing ways to ambush the U.S. Navy if it heads towards an already held-hostage Taiwan. If China can convince the U.S. that intervening in any actions it chooses to take in the Taiwan Strait is not worth the risk, then Beijing wins,” Chang said. 

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