The Taiwan Strait seen in a 2023 file picture. China says the strategic waterway is part of its territorial waters. -- PHOTO: REUTERS
BEIJING (Reuters): China's military has condemned the sailing of a US and British warship through the sensitive Taiwan Strait, saying it ordered naval and air forces to monitor and warn the two ships.
The People's Liberation Army's Eastern Theatre Command said the U.S. destroyer USS Higgins and British frigate HMS Richmond were engaged in "trouble-making and provocation".
"The actions of the United States and Britain send the wrong signals and undermine peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait," it said in a statement.
Britain's defence ministry said the sailing was a routine passage.
"Wherever the Royal Navy operates, it does so in full compliance with international law and norms, and exercises freedom of navigation rights in accordance with the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea."
The U.S. Indo-Pacific Command also described the mission as a routine transit.
"The ships transited through a corridor in the strait that is beyond the territorial sea of any coastal state," it said in a statement. "Navigational rights and freedoms in the Taiwan Strait should not be limited."
Earlier on Friday, China's navy said its third aircraft carrier, the Fujian, which is still undergoing sea trials, had passed through the strait as well.
Last week, a Canadian and an Australian warship also sailed through the strait.
The U.S. Navy and, on occasion, ships from allied countries including Canada, Britain and France transit the strait, which they consider an international waterway, around once a month. Taiwan also considers it an international waterway.
China, which views Taiwan as its own territory, says the strategic waterway is part of its territorial waters. Taiwan's government rejects Beijing's territorial claims.
China has, over the past five years, increased its military pressure on the island, including by staging war games nearby.
(Reporting by Beijing Newsroom; Writing by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Alexandra Hudson, Aidan Lewis) - Reuters
