China’s People’s Liberation Army has registered its protest at the transit of a U.S. Navy aircraft through the Taiwan Strait.
The U.S. Navy’s patrol and surveillance aircraft P-8 Poseidon travelled through the strait separating the island and mainland China on October 12, the Navy’s Japan-based Seventh Fleet said on Thursday.
The transit of the American aircraft comes days after the U.S. ordered the USS Gerald R. Ford carrier strike group into the Eastern Mediterranean in a bid to deter escalation following Hamas’ large-scale offensive on Israeli settlements near Gaza.
“By operating within the Taiwan Strait in accordance with international law, the United States upholds the navigational rights and freedoms of all nations. The aircraft’s transit of the Taiwan Strait demonstrates the U.S.’s commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific. The U.S. military flies, sails, and operates anywhere international law allows,” the U.S. Seventh Fleet Command said in a statement.
AFP via Getty/Ted Aljibe
Beijing claims self-ruled Taiwan as part of its territory. Chinese President Xi Jinping has repeatedly stated that Taiwan’s ultimate fate will be “assimilation” into the “Chinese motherland.”
“U.S. P-8A anti-submarine patrol aircraft passed through the Taiwan Strait and was publicized. The Eastern Theater Command of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army organized fighter planes to monitor the passage of U.S. aircraft and dealt with them in accordance with laws and regulations. Troops in the theater remain on high alert at all times and will resolutely safeguard national sovereignty and security as well as regional peace and stability,” said Colonel Shi Yi of China’s Eastern Theatre Command in a statement.
PLA’s response to the U.S. aircraft transit topped the trends on Chinese social media.
Beijing wants the U.S. to stop supplying military aid to Taiwan for self-defense. President Biden recently approved aid to the island from the Foreign Military Financing fund in August, usually meant for sovereign countries.
The search trend “Eastern Theatre Command responds to U.S. P-8 aircraft passing through Taiwan Strait” was the fifth trend on the Chinese search engine Baidu.
On September 9, the USS Ralph Johnson and Canada’s HMCS Ottawa conducted a “routine transit,” which overlapped with Biden and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s participation at the G20 summit in New Delhi.
The last transit of the P-8A aircraft through the Taiwan Strait was on July 13, also protested by China. Though the U.S. has routinely conducted these transits in the past as part of freedom of navigation exercises, these instances have grown increasingly contested as China’s own activity has witnessed an uptick.
China has increased its military activity around Taiwan as Beijing sent 103 jets across the strait in two days, setting a new record.
The U.S. has sent high-level delegations to Beijing in the past month to signal the need for dialogue to reduce the chances of unintended military escalation with Beijing, especially on the security situation around Taiwan.