US, Canadian Warships Sail Through Taiwan Strait; China Says "Public Hype"
NDTV
Beijing views as its own both democratic Taiwan and the narrow body of water separating the island from mainland China - one of the world's busiest shipping channels.
A US destroyer and a Canadian frigate sailed through the Taiwan Strait on Tuesday in the latest joint operation aimed at reinforcing the route's status as an international waterway.
Beijing views as its own both democratic Taiwan and the narrow body of water separating the island from mainland China - one of the world's busiest shipping channels.
The United States has long used "freedom of navigation" passages through the Taiwan Strait to push back against Chinese claims and Western allies have increasingly joined these operations.
The USS Higgins, an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer, in cooperation with the Royal Canadian Navy's Halifax-class frigate HMCS Vancouver "conducted a routine Taiwan Strait transit September 20 (local time)... in accordance with international law", the US Navy's Seventh Fleet said.
