US warship passes the Taiwan Strait

• China charged the US plane with acting in a dangerous manner.
• Last year, tensions in the Taiwan Strait rose sharply.
• USS Chung-passage Hoon’s demonstrated US support for a “free and open Indo-Pacific”.

On Thursday, a US warship crossed the Taiwan Strait, which separates Taiwan from the Chinese mainland, drawing ire from Beijing.

According to the US military, the USS Chung-passage Hoon’s demonstrated US support for a “free and open Indo-Pacific”.

However, a spokeswoman for the Chinese embassy in Washington claimed the trip was made to “stretch muscles” and charged that the US was “undermining peace and stability.”

Last year, tensions in the Taiwan Strait rose sharply.

After former US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to the island in August, China conducted its largest military drills ever there.

China has promised to unite Taiwan, using force if necessary, and asserts that it is a part of its territory. Taiwan is ruled by itself and regards itself as separate from the mainland.

The Chinese military claimed to have followed the transit of the USS Chung-Hoon. The nation would “safeguard its national sovereignty and territorial integrity,” the embassy’s spokesman said.

The ship bears the name of Rear Admiral Gordon Pai’ea Chung-Hoon, a Second World War veteran of the US Navy.

Taiwan has become a subject of contention between Washington and Beijing in recent years, and the US is treading carefully in its diplomacy about the matter.

Because of its adherence to the “One China” policy, which recognises only one Chinese government, the US maintains formal links with Beijing and not Taiwan. This stance is a cornerstone of the two nations’ diplomatic relationship.

However, it also keeps up a “strong unofficial” connection with the island. That includes providing Taiwan with guns for self-defense.

After a Chinese air force jet flew within 20 feet of a US air force plane over the South China Sea last month, the US charged it with engaging in a hazardous manoeuvre.

China later charged the US plane with acting in a dangerous manner.

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