Weeks before a new leader takes office, China chastises the US for allowing a ship to transit across the Taiwan Strait.

Weeks before a new leader takes office, China chastises the US for allowing a ship to transit across the Taiwan Strait.

Taiwan, Taipei — Less than two weeks before the new president of Taiwan takes office, the Chinese military denounced the passage of an American destroyer across the Taiwan Strait, and Beijing and Washington are working incongruously to resume regular military exercises.

China’s Eastern Theatre Command spokeswoman, Navy Senior Capt. Li Xi, charged that the United States had “publicly hyped” the USS Halsey’s passing on Wednesday. The command, which is in charge of operations near the strait, “organised naval and air forces to monitor” the ship’s passage, according to a statement made by Li.

The Halsey “performed a routine Taiwan Strait transit on May 8 through waters where high-seas freedoms of navigation and overflight apply in accordance with international law,” according to the U.S. Navy’s 7th Fleet.

According to a statement from the military, the guided-missile destroyer passed through a strait corridor that is “beyond the territorial sea” of any coastal state.

As a concept, it stated, “Halsey’s transit through the Taiwan Strait demonstrates the United States’ commitment to upholding freedom of navigation for all nations.” “No one in the global society should be subjected to intimidation or coercion in order to forfeit their rights and liberties. Everywhere that international law permits, the US military operates and flies.

Beijing views the announcements as a way to retaliate against China’s claim to some degree of control over who can pass freely through the strait, so Beijing’s accusation that the transit was “publicly hyped”—basically meaning it was played up for maximum political effect—has become standard procedure. Neither that the Chinese response was any louder nor that the U.S. Navy had behaved any differently in this most recent instance.

The Defence Ministry of Taiwan declared that it was adequately informed of the destroyer’s passing.

According to the ministry, “the Taiwanese military was closely monitoring the surrounding sea and airspace throughout the transit, and the situation remained normal.”

The last time such a passage occurred was on April 17, the day after the defence chiefs of the United States and China met for the first time since November 2022 in an attempt to ease tensions in the area. After then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan in August 2022, Beijing halted all military-to-military communication, causing the relationship to come to a standstill. In retaliation, China launched missiles over Taiwan and intensified its military exercises, appearing to be a practice run for an island-wide navy and air defence.

China and Taiwan, the democratic self-governing island nation where President-elect William Lai Ching-te will take office on May 20, are separated by the 160-kilometer-wide Taiwan Strait. The Democratic Progressive Party of Lai is in favour of Taiwan’s de facto independence, which allows it to have close unofficial ties with the United States and other major countries.

Around critical dates, like the presidential and legislative elections in January of this year, Taiwan’s military raises its state of alertness, fearing that China would try to intimidate voters and sway public opinion in favour of Beijing’s insistence that unification between the sides is inevitable by using its far more powerful military.

The two sides divided after a civil war in 1949, and in a futile attempt to prevent voters from supporting candidates they disliked, China fired missiles close north and south of the island and conducted military drills as recently as 1996. Since then, China has mostly avoided the spotlight when it comes to elections, preferring to gain the favour of business associations and provide lawmakers and local authorities who are interested in unity sponsored trips to the mainland.

China views the passage of warships from the United States, Britain, and other countries as a challenge to its sovereignty, despite the fact that the often traversed Taiwan Strait is an international waterway and essential to world trade.

China attempts to weaken Taiwan’s defences and scare its 23 million people—many of whom solidly support its de facto independence—by sending military ships and warplanes into the strait and other regions surrounding the island virtually every day.

China nearly daily sends military ships and aeroplanes into the Taiwan Strait and other nearby regions in an attempt to erode Taiwan’s defences and intimidate its 23 million citizens, many of whom firmly support the island’s de facto independence.

The U.S. Navy not only crosses the Taiwan Strait but also engages in what it refers to as freedom of navigation operations, sailing and flying close to South China Sea features that are held by China. Many of these features are man-made islands that have been “militarised” over time with radar stations, air strips, and other equipment.

China reacts angrily to such actions, blaming the United States of destabilising the region, and claims almost all of the South China Sea, a major maritime route for international trade. It frequently uses its own resources to follow American ships and aircraft and demands that they leave the region right away. China’s claims have been rejected by an arbitration tribunal supported by the United Nations, a decision Beijing has disregarded, while the United States maintains that it has the legal authority to sail in the area.

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