British Warship Makes a Rare Passage of Taiwan Strait

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A British warship transited the Taiwan Strait as China continues its military pressure upon Taiwan.

The Royal Navyโ€™s HMS Richmond announced on Twitter its latest whereabouts on Sept. 27. โ€œAfter a busy period working with partners and allies in the East China Sea,โ€ it said, โ€œwe are now en route through the Taiwan Strait to visit Vietnam and the Vietnam Peopleโ€™s Navy.โ€

The brief post drew a rebuke from the Chinese militaryโ€™s Eastern Theater Command the same day.

The spokesperson for the command, Shi Yi, criticized the passage on its official WeChat account as a โ€œpublic hype-up,โ€ saying the UK โ€œjust validated its existence.โ€ He said the command forces would maintain a high degree of alert, vowing to โ€œcounteract any threat or provocation.โ€

For years the Chinese communist regime has claimed Taiwan as part of its territory. However, the communist regime has never held rule over Taiwan. Moreover, Beijing has threatened to use force to bring the island under its control. In recent years, the Chinese authorities exerted mounting military pressure on Taiwan by flying warplanes into its air defense identification zone.

Data shows the Chinese Communist Partyโ€™s (CCP) fighters have invaded Taiwanโ€™s airspace for 188 days so far this year, causing 526 radio warnings. This far exceeds last yearโ€™s total of 380, according to the Southwest Airspace of TW, a website documenting military activity in the area.

In response to Chinaโ€™s aggressiveness, the United States, United Kingdom, and Japan have strengthened their ties with Taiwan.

Britain sent its carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth to the Indo-Pacific region in May 2021, as part of a UK-led freedom of navigation operation. The voyage was heralded as a warning against Beijingโ€™s bullying of its neighbors in the region.

Admiral Tony Radakin, a senior Royal Navy officer, told Nikkei Asia in mid-September that the UK wouldย station two new patrol vesselsย in the Indo-Pacific region at least over the next five years as part of the United States and its alliesโ€™ efforts to curb the CCPโ€™s military expansion.

Radakin stressed that Taiwan is clearly โ€œpart of the free and open Indo-Pacific.โ€

โ€œIt is a waterway that can be used by different nations,โ€ he said.

HMS Richmond is a Type 23 frigate, part of the Royal Navyโ€™s HMS Queen Elizabeth carrier strike group. It was first deployed in 1997 to the Far East.

Byย Frank Yue

Read Original Article on TheEpochTimes.com

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