China Blasts Canada, Australia Over Taiwan Strait Transit

By Staff, Agencies

The Chinese military has condemned the passage of Canadian and Australian warships through the Taiwan Strait, calling it a provocation.

China views Taiwan and the Taiwan Strait as its territory under the One-China principle, while countries like Canada and Australia treat the strait as international waters and conduct regular transits.

The Canadian frigate HMCS Ville de Quebec and the Australian destroyer HMAS Brisbane entered the strait early Saturday, a day after Beijing accused both nations of stoking tensions with military drills in the South China Sea.

China said its forces tracked and warned the vessels, describing the operation as “trouble-making and provocation.”

“The actions of the Canadians and Australians send the wrong signals and increase security risks,” the People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command said on Sunday.

An Australian Defense Department spokesperson said Brisbane made a “routine transit” with the Canadian ship from September 6 to 7.

“Australian vessels and aircraft will continue to exercise freedom of navigation and uphold international law, particularly the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea,” the spokesperson added.

Canadian Joint Operations Command declined to comment on the transit, saying the Ville de Quebec was deployed on Operation Horizon, Canada’s Indo-Pacific mission aimed at promoting “peace and stability.”

Earlier this week, the frigate joined freedom-of-navigation drills near the Philippines with Western allies, which Beijing condemned as destabilizing and accused Manila of collusion.

The Taiwan Strait, a key global trade route and military flashpoint, saw another Canadian frigate transit earlier this year, prompting Chinese threats of countermeasures.