China has strongly reacted to the United Kingdom and the United States after warships from both countries passed through the Taiwan Strait on Friday, a sensitive and diplomatically tense area.
According to a statement from the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Eastern Theater Command, Chinese naval and air forces were ordered to monitor and warn the British and American vessels—specifically the HMS Richmond and USS Higgins—during their transit through the 180-kilometer-wide strait separating Taiwan from mainland China.
“The actions of the United States and the United Kingdom send wrong signals and undermine peace and stability throughout the Taiwan Strait,” the PLA statement said, describing the passage as “problematic and provocative.”
In response, the British Ministry of Defence characterized the passage as a routine transit, emphasizing: “Wherever the Royal Navy operates, it does so in full accordance with international law and norms, exercising freedom of navigation rights under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.”
Similarly, the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command described its vessel’s movement as part of a routine maritime operation: “Freedom of navigation rights in the Taiwan Strait must not be restricted,” the U.S. statement said, noting that the strait lies “beyond the territorial waters of any coastal state.”
