China furious as US NATO ally lets warship sail along coast

Relations between Canada and China were again tested, with Beijing saying Ottawa was “undermining peace in the disputed Taiwan Strait” by sending a warship there on Wednesday.

The Canadian Army has announced that HMCS MontrealA 4,795-ton Halifax-class frigate armed with missiles made a passage through the Taiwan Strait on Wednesday. MarineTraffic, a website that tracks ships worldwide, showed the frigate sailing north to south through the 110-mile-wide waterway with its automatic identification system activated.

The Taiwan Strait separates China from self-governing Taiwan, which Beijing sees as a breakaway province and has never renounced the use of force to unify the island. The waterway connects the East China Sea to the north and the South China Sea to the south.

Canadian Defence Minister Bill Blair said the transit reaffirms his country’s commitment to a free, open and inclusive Indo-Pacific. “As outlined in our Indo-Pacific Strategy, Canada is increasing the Royal Canadian Navy’s presence in the Indo-Pacific region,” he wrote on X, formerly Twitter.

Senior Colonel Li Xi, spokesman for China’s Eastern Theater Command, said Canada was “glorifying” the passage of its frigate. “Canada’s actions have harassed and disrupted the situation and undermined peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait,” he claimed.

The Eastern Theater Command’s area of ​​responsibility covers eastern mainland China and the Taiwan Strait, and one of its main missions is to conduct major operations against Taiwan. Since August 2022, it has launched large-scale exercises around Taiwan.

China has claimed jurisdiction over the Taiwan Strait. However, the United States and its allies, as well as Taiwan, have argued that the waterway is international waters where “freedom of navigation and overflight on the high seas applies in accordance with international law.”

Chinese forces are ready to respond to any “threats and provocations,” Li Xi said in a statement. Taiwan’s Defense Ministry said Thursday that its military had full control over the surrounding sea and airspace as the Montreal moved south through the strait.

The U.S. military routinely passes through the Taiwan Strait in support of Taiwan. The last time this was done was on May 8 by USS Halseya 9,300-ton Arleigh Burke-class destroyer, demonstrating Washington’s commitment to the principle of freedom of navigation.

As a NATO ally of the US, Canada last year launched Operation Horizon, a mission in the Indo-Pacific region to “promote peace, stability and a rules-based international order.”

The Canadian Navy has previously conducted a joint transit of the Taiwan Strait with the U.S. Navy. In November 2023, the Montrealsister ship HMCS Ottawa sailed through the waterway with USS Rafael Peraltawhich is also an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer.

Before entering the Taiwan Strait, Montreal conducted exercises and operations in the East China Sea with the navies of Japan and the US on Sunday and Tuesday respectively.

The July 31 transit comes after Canadian Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly visited Beijing on July 19 and held talks with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi. They discussed opportunities and challenges in bilateral relations, according to the transcript of the meeting.

Relations between Ottawa and Beijing have been strained since December 2018, when Canadians Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor were arrested in China after Meng Wanzhou, the CEO of Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei, was detained in Canada.

Meng was released in September 2021 following an agreement by the U.S. Department of Justice to withdraw an extradition request and returned to China, while Kovrig and Spavor were released by Chinese authorities after serving more than 1,000 days in prison.