**Taiwan Welcomes Canada’s Position on Making Taiwan Strait an International Waterway**
Last week, a U.S. destroyer passed through the Taiwan Strait for the first time in four months.
In an image dated May 30, 2023, the U.S. Navy destroyer Chung Hoon and the Royal Canadian Navy frigate HMCS Montreal are seen conducting exercises in the South China Sea. Reuters reports on this event.
(Seoul=News1) – Following the United States, a Canadian frigate has traversed the Taiwan Strait for the first time this year.
The Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command, which oversees Taiwan, announced on the 17th that “the Canadian frigate Ottawa passed through the Taiwan Strait the previous day.” The spokesperson for the Eastern Theater Command stated, “We have always maintained a high level of vigilance and are firmly responding to all threats and provocations.”
Li Shi, spokesperson for the Eastern Theater Command, added, “We organized naval and air force personnel to monitor and be on guard throughout Canada’s navigation operations, effectively responding and handling them.”
He further mentioned, “Canada’s actions are intentionally causing confusion, which undermines peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait. Our command forces will always maintain high vigilance and resolutely respond to all threats and provocations.”
Prior to this, Taiwan noted that the passage of the Canadian warship through the Taiwan Strait was the first this year and the sixth since the announcement of Canada’s Indo-Pacific strategy in November 2022. They explained, “Canada continues to demonstrate a firm resolve to maintain peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait through concrete actions.”
Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs also expressed, “We welcome and positively evaluate Canada’s firm stance on making the Taiwan Strait an international waterway. Taiwan will continue to enhance its self-defense capabilities in the face of various aggressive actions from mainland China and will resist the expansion of authoritarianism, while deepening exchanges and cooperation with like-minded countries to jointly uphold a rules-based international order and the peace and stability of the Taiwan Strait.”
The passage of the Canadian vessel through the Taiwan Strait follows the passage of the U.S. destroyer Ralph Johnson and the oceanographic survey ship Bowditch on the 12th. At that time, the passage of the U.S. warship through the Taiwan Strait was the first since President Donald Trump took office and the first in four months.