Taiwan: After Chinese maneuvers, two American warships in transit in Strait

Tensions in the Taiwan Strait increased after the visit of Nancy Pelosi on the island.

Le Monde with AFP

Two American warships entered Transit into the Taiwan Strait, announced the US Navy on Sunday, August 28, a first since unprecedented Chinese maneuvers near the island. In a statement, the US Navy said that this passage “demonstrated the commitment of the United States in favor of a free and open Indo-Pacific region”.

Tensions in the Taiwan Strait have reached their highest level for years, following the visit of the President of the American Chamber of Nancy Pelosi representatives in early August on the autonomous island. China has carried out unprecedented terrestrial and maritime military maneuvers in retaliation, and Taiwan carried out its own exercises to simulate a defense against an invasion of China.

“Freedom of navigation and overview”

Taiwan lives under the constant threat of an invasion of Beijing, which considers the autonomous island as a part of its territory, to reconquer the force so necessary. Beijing protests against any diplomatic action likely to give legitimacy to Taiwan and reacted with increasing aggressiveness to the visits of Western officials and policies.

The 7 e American fleet clarified that the two Croisles Missiles of Ticonderoga class, the Antietam and the USS Chancellorsville, had made a “routine” “transit in waters Where freedom of navigation and overview apply in accordance with international standards “. She stressed that the two ships had borrowed “a corridor from the Taiwan Strait which is beyond the territorial waters of any coastal state”, adding that the American army reserved the right to “operate wherever international law allows “.

The 7 e fleet is based in Japan and constitutes an essential element of the naval presence of the United States in the Pacific. On August 16, the vice-admiral of the 7 e fleet, Karl Thomas, had described as “irresponsible” the shot of ballistic missiles above the island by Beijing during his maneuvers and Affirmed that these shots had come close to international navigation routes.

China ready “to thwart any provocation”

The Chinese Liberation People’s Army (APL) reacted on Sunday, August 28, believing that the United States had “made a significant threshing” around the passage of ships in the Strait. “The command of the oriental theater of the APL follows and warns the American ships throughout their transit, and is aware of all their movements,” said the spokesperson for the East Chinese army, Shi Yie, warning that his troops “remain on a high alert state and be ready (…) to thwart any provocation”.

The Taiwan Ministry of Defense said, in a brief press release, that two American cruisers had crossed the Strait of Taiwan from north to south, without naming them.