Chinese military says US plane in Taiwan Strait endangered peace

Chinese air and ground forces monitored the US aircraft’s operation on Friday, PLA Eastern Theatre Command says
Chinese firmly oppose the US actions and troops remain on high alert, spokesman adds

Taiwan

Reuters

Published: 1:23pm, 25 Jun 2022

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China’s military said the recent fly-through of a US maritime plane in the Taiwan Strait deliberately disrupted regional situation and endangered peace and stability.

Colonel Shi Yi, spokesman for the Eastern Theatre Command of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), said the Chinese military had organised air and ground forces to monitor the US aircraft’s operation, which took place on Friday.

He added that the Chinese firmly opposed the actions by the United States and that their troops remained on high alert.

The US navy did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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The Taiwan Strait has been a frequent source of military tension since the defeated Republic of China government fled to Taiwan in 1949 after losing a civil war with the Communists, who established the People’s Republic of China.

Beijing has said previously that it has sovereignty and jurisdiction over the Taiwan Strait while the United States and Taiwan assert that the strait separating the island from mainland China is an international waterway.

‘Taiwan Strait is an international waterway’: Taipei rejects Beijing’s claims

The latest tension over the strait comes after Taiwan on Thursday said it had scrambled jets to warn away 22 PLA aircraft in its air defence zone, the second large-scale incursion reported during the week.

Democratically governed Taiwan, which Beijing claims as its own territory, has complained in recent years of repeated missions near it by the PLA air force, often in the southwestern part of its air defence identification zone close to the Taiwan-controlled Pratas Islands.