American and Canadian ships cross Taiwan Strait together in rare move: Le Figaro

American ships regularly cross the Taiwan Strait, but they rarely do so accompanied by an Allied ship.

By Le Figaro with AFP

Published on 06/03/2023 at 2:50 p.m.update on 06/03/2023 at 19:07

American ships, USS Chung-Hoon, and Canadian, HMCS Montreal, crossed the Strait of Taiwan, which has turned into a geopolitical powder keg in recent years, announced the United States Navy and the Canadian army. “Passage of the Chung-Moon and Montreal through the Taiwan Strait demonstrates the commitment of the United States and its allies and partners to a free and open Indo-Pacific regionsaid the US 7th Fleet.

The United States and Canada arepartners working for peace and security in the region“tweeted the Canadian army for its part.

American ships regularly cross the Taiwan Strait but they rarely do so accompanied by an Allied ship. The last joint American-Canadian passage dates back to September.

This passage comes as the US Secretary of Defense, Lloyd Austinand his Chinese counterpart Li Shangfu briefly greeted each other for the first time at the opening dinner of the Shangri-La Defense Dialogue Conference in Singapore.

Unusual presence of the Chinese aircraft carrier Shandong

Three Chinese ships, including the aircraft carrier Shandong, had crossed the Taiwan Strait at the end of May. While the presence of Chinese warships in the Taiwan Strait is constantly monitored and announced almost daily by Taipei, that of the aircraft carrier Shandong is unusual.

«The countries in question intentionally create trouble in the Taiwan Strait, deliberately increasing the risks and unscrupulously undermining regional peace and stability.said Colonel Shi Yi, spokesman for the Chinese command for the eastern area.

Since the end of the Chinese Civil War in 1949, China has viewed Taiwan as a province that it has yet to successfully reunify with the rest of its territory.

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Relations between Beijing and Taipei, at their lowest since the coming to power of Xi Jinping more than 10 years ago, have further deteriorated in recent years and China has stepped up military incursions around the island.