US, Canadian navies sail through Taiwan Strait week after war games

TAIPEI — A US and a Canadian warship sailed through the sensitive Taiwan Strait together on Sunday (Oct 20) less than a week after China conducted a new round of war games around the island, with Beijing denouncing the mission as "disruptive". The US navy, occasionally accompanied by ships from allied countries, transits the strait around once a month. China, which claims Taiwan as its own territory, also says the strategic waterway belongs to it. The US Navy's 7th Fleet said on Monday that the destroyer USS Higgins and the Canadian frigate HMCS Vancouver made a "routine" transit on Sunday "through waters where high-seas freedom of navigation and overflight apply in accordance with international law". The transit demonstrated the United States' and Canada's commitment to upholding freedom of navigation for all countries, it said in a statement. "The international community's navigational rights and freedoms in the Taiwan Strait should not be limited. The United States rejects any assertion of sovereignty or jurisdiction that is inconsistent with freedoms of navigations, overflight, and other lawful uses of the sea and air," it said.

US, Canadian navies sail through Taiwan Strait week after war games

US, Canadian navies sail through Taiwan Strait week after war games

US, Canadian navies sail through Taiwan Strait week after war games

US, Canadian navies sail through Taiwan Strait week after war games

US, Canadian navies sail through Taiwan Strait week after war games