Beijing’s military says US-Canada Taiwan Strait transit ‘undermines peace, stability’

Sunday’s transit through the Taiwan Strait by US and Canadian naval ships – a week after Beijing’s military drill to blockade the self-ruled island – “disturbed the situation and undermined peace and stability”, the People’s Liberation Army said on Monday.

Li Xi, a PLA Navy colonel and spokesman for the Eastern Theatre Command, said naval and air forces from his unit monitored the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Higgins and the Halifax-class frigate HMCS Vancouver throughout the transit.

Li said the US and Canadian ships were “guarded” throughout the process and “dealt with … in accordance with the law”.

He added that the theatre troops are always “on high alert and resolutely defend national sovereignty and security and regional peace and stability”.

According to a statement by the US Pacific Command on Sunday, USS Higgins and HMCS Vancouver conducted a “routine Taiwan Strait transit through waters where high-seas freedom of navigation and overflight apply in accordance with international law”.

“The ship transited through a high seas corridor in the strait that is beyond the territorial sea of any coastal state. Higgins and Vancouver’s transit through the Taiwan Strait demonstrated the United States’ and Canada’s commitment to upholding freedom of navigation for all nations as a principle,” the statement said.

“The international community’s navigational rights and freedoms in the Taiwan Strait should not be limited. The United States rejects any assertion of sovereignty or jurisdiction that is inconsistent with freedoms of navigations, overflight and other lawful uses of the sea and air.”