BEIJING, May 29 (Reuters) – China said on Friday that it firmly opposes any attempt by any country to undermine its sovereignty and security ‘under the pretext of freedom of navigation’, in response to the passage of a Canadian warship through the Taiwan Strait.
Canadian media reported that the frigate HMCS Charlottetown made the passage last week without being accompanied by any ships from allied countries.
China claims sovereignty over democratically governed Taiwan and the strategic Taiwan Strait, despite Taipei’s rejection of these claims.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning added that China respects the navigation rights of all countries in accordance with international law.
‘The Taiwan Strait is an international waterway and all countries have the right to freedom of navigation,’ Taiwan’s Ministry of Defense told Reuters.
The ministry stated that it ‘closely monitors relevant developments through joint intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance mechanisms, but does not proactively disclose the movements of military vessels of allied nations’.
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Canada’s Department of National Defense did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
(Reporting by Joe Cash; additional reporting by Ben Blanchard in Taipei)
