China says that the US Navy in the Taiwan Strait poses security risks Border conflict news

The US Navy has described its patrol as a “routine” exercise through the international waterway.

The Chinese army accused the United States of engaging in risky behavior in the Taiwan Strait, after two US -naval ships transported the international waterway.

The Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) said it was watching the movements of US carriers Ralph Johnson, the marine destroyer, and the USNS BOWITITCH, a scanning ship, while they were moving across the waterway between the two and Wednesday.

“The American measure sends the wrong signals and increases the risks of security,” said the leadership of the eastern theater in the Chinese People’s Liberation Army in a statement on Wednesday.

Colonel Laila Shi said: “The forces in the theater are at a state of maximum alert at all times, and they are strengthened in defending national sovereignty and security, as well as regional peace and stability.”

The US Navy later confirmed the movement of the two ships through the strait, which they described as “routine” exercises.

“The transit occurred through a corridor in the Taiwan Strait, which transcends the regional seas in a coastal state,” said Matthew Kumer, a spokesman for the American Army Army Command.

Kumler said: “Within this corridor, all countries enjoy the freedom of high movement, light, and other legal uses of the sea related to these freedoms,” Kumler said.

US naval ships regularly implement freedom of navigation exercises through the Taiwan Strait at the level of 180 km (111 miles), although the naval patrol this week was the first of its kind since US President Donald Trump took office in January.

China claims that the Taiwan Strait as local lands, although the United Nations Law of Maritime Hats “territorial waters” is in 12 nautical miles (22 km) of the coast.

Participation in US allies also sometimes in similar navigation exercises through the Taiwan Strait.

The last two asserted tasks of the US Navy were an air patrol in November and a joint journal for the strait in October by the United States and Canadian naval ships.

Sea ships from France, the Netherlands and the Self -Defense Force in Japan also passed through the strait last year.

In addition to the Taiwan Strait, China also claims sovereignty over Taiwan, a self -democracy of 23 million people, and it regularly sends air and sea ships, sometimes drones and balloons, towards the island.

These tactics known as the “Gray District” aim to intimidate Taiwan and test its defensive ability.

Since 2022, Beijing has regularly organized military exercises in the Taiwan Strait to indicate her anger in Taipei to engage in high -level meetings with US officials.