Sydney (Reuters) – An Australian warship sailed through the Taiwan Strait, a government source said on Sunday, in the latest crossing of this sensitive waterway by a United States ally that, according to Chinese state media, was tracked and monitored by the country’s armed forces.
In addition to claiming sovereignty over Taiwan, democratically governed, Beijing regards the strait, highly strategic, as Chinese territorial waters and has responded aggressively, on occasions, to foreign ships sailing there.
The Toowoomba, an Anzac-class frigate of the Royal Australian Navy, “conducted a routine crossing of the Taiwan Strait” on Friday and Saturday as part of a “regional presence deployment in the Indo-Pacific region,” the source said.
“All interactions with foreign ships and aircraft were safe and professional,” the source said.
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The state-backed Chinese newspaper Global Times, citing a Chinese military source, reported on Saturday night that “the People’s Liberation Army conducted full tracking, monitoring and alert operations throughout the transit.”
The Ministry of National Defense of Taiwan said in a statement that it closely monitors the skies and waters around the island and that the strait is an international waterway in which all countries enjoy the right of freedom of navigation.
“The Ministry of National Defense will not proactively disclose movements of aircraft and ships of friendly allied countries,” it added, without giving further details.
U.S. warships traverse the strait every few months, angering Beijing, and some U.S. allies, such as France, Australia, the United Kingdom and Canada, also conduct occasional transits.
China has intensified its military presence around Taiwan and carried out its latest war games around the island at the end of December.
The government of Taiwan rejects Beijing’s sovereignty claims, stating that only the island’s people can decide its future.
