Such incidents have raised concerns over a possible accident that could lead to a military escalation between the two countries at a time when tensions in the region are already high. The US recently accused China of also performing an “unnecessarily aggressive manoeuvre” in the air, saying a Chinese J-16 fighter jet late last month flew directly in front of the nose of a US Air Force reconnaissance aircraft over the South China Sea.
“The US military flies, sails, and operates safely and responsibly anywhere international law allows.” “Chung-Hoon and Montreal’s transit through the Taiwan Strait demonstrates the combined US-Canadian commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific,” the US Indo-Pacific Command said. The Chinese ship did not attempt a similar manoeuvre on the Canadian frigate, which was sailing behind the US destroyer.
The US Indo-Pacific Command said the actions violated maritime rules of safe passage in international waters. Similar incidents ratchet up tensionsĬhina claims the democratic self-governing island of Taiwan as part of its own territory, and maintains the strait is part of its exclusive economic zone, while the US and its allies regularly sail through and fly over the passage to emphasise their contention that the waters are international. The Chinese guided-missile destroyer overtook the Chung-Hoon on its port side, then veered across its bow at a distance of some 137 meters (150 yards), according to the US Indo-Pacific Command. The US destroyer USS Chung-Hoon and Canadian frigate HMCS Montreal were conducting a so-called “freedom of navigation” transit of the strait between Taiwan and mainland China.
The Chinese ship then straightened up and continued on a parallel course. The United States military released a video on Monday of what it described as an “unsafe” manoeuvre by a Chinese warship in the Taiwan Strait on the weekend amid sharpening rhetoric between the two powers.ĭuring the incident, which took place on Saturday, a Chinese navy ship, Luyang III, is seen cutting sharply across the path of a US destroyer which slowed down to avoid a collision.
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