[1/2] The USS Chung-Hoon passes the USS Arizona Memorial during ceremonies honoring the 73rd anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor in WWII Gallantry at the Pacific National Monument in Honolulu , Hawaii, December 7, 2014. REUTERS/Hugh Gentry / File Photo
WASHINGTON, Jan 5 (Reuters) – A U.S. warship sailed through the sensitive Taiwan Strait on Thursday in what the U.S. military calls routine activity but has irked China.
In recent years, US warships, and sometimes those of allied nations such as Britain and Canada, have passed through the strait, drawing the ire of China, which claims Taiwan over the objections of its democratically elected government.
In a statement, the US military said the Arleigh Burke Chung-Hoon-class guided-missile destroyer made the transit.
“Chung-Hoon’s transit through the Taiwan Strait demonstrates the United States’ commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific,” the statement added.
In a statement, Liu Pengyu, spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in Washington, said China firmly opposes the move and urged the United States to “immediately stop causing unrest, aggravating tensions and undermine peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait”.
“US warships often exercise force in the name of exercising freedom of navigation. This is not about keeping the region free and open,” the statement said.
“China will continue to remain on high alert and is ready to respond to all threats and provocations at any time, and will resolutely safeguard its national sovereignty and territorial integrity.”
A spokesman for the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command said it had organized troops to monitor and guard the ship’s transit, and that “all movements were under control”.
Taiwan’s defense ministry said the ship was sailing north through the strait, its forces monitored its passage and saw nothing unusual.
The narrow Taiwan Strait has been a frequent source of military tension since the defeated Republic of China government fled to Taiwan in 1949 after losing a civil war with the Communists, who established the People’s Republic of China .
The United States does not have formal diplomatic relations with Taiwan, but is required by law to provide the island with the means to defend itself.
China has never ruled out using force to bring Taiwan under its control. Taiwan vows to defend itself if attacked, saying Beijing’s sovereignty claims are void because the People’s Republic of China has never ruled the island.
A Chinese military aircraft came within 10ft (3m) of a US Air Force plane in the disputed South China Sea last month and forced it to perform dive maneuvers. avoidance to avoid a collision in international airspace.
The close encounter followed what the United States called a recent trend of increasingly dangerous behavior by Chinese military aircraft.
Reporting by Idrees Ali; Additional reporting by Yimou Lee in Taipei and Liz Lee in Beijing; Editing by Lisa Shumaker, Leslie Adler and Raju Gopalakrishnan
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