The US military said Tuesday that it flew a US Navy P-8A Poseidon surveillance plane over the sensitive Taiwan Strait, prompting China to put its forces on alert and track the aircraft.
The US typically frames its military activity in the Taiwan Strait as routine even though China views the US military presence off its coast as a provocation.
“By operating within the Taiwan Strait in accordance with international law, the United States upholds the navigational rights and freedoms of all nations,” the US Navy’s Seventh Fleet said in a press release.
“The aircraft’s transit of the Taiwan Strait demonstrates the United States’ commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific. The United States military flies, sails, and operates anywhere international law allows,” the fleet added.
Li Xi, a spokesman for the Chinese military’s Eastern Theater Command, said Chinese forces “organized warplanes to tail and monitor the US aircraft’s flight and handled it in accordance with the law.”
Li added that “theater command troops will remain on constant high alert and resolutely safeguard national sovereignty and security as well as regional peace and stability.”
The US frequently sails warships through the Taiwan Strait, more frequently than it flies planes, and has been encouraging its allies to do the same. Last week, Germany sent two warships through the sensitive waterway for the first time since 2002, drawing a sharp rebuke from China.
“The German side’s behavior increases security risks and sends the wrong signal,” Li said in response to the German transit. “Troops in the theater are on high alert at all times and will resolutely counter all threats and provocations.”
