Taiwan says Australian warship sailed through sensitive Taiwan Strait close to China

#englishnews #Australianwarship #taiwan

News Article :-
Taiwan says an Australian warship has sailed through the Taiwan Strait, the sensitive and narrow waterway that separates the democratically governed island from China.

The ship, which it did not name, entered the strait on Thursday and sailed in a southerly direction, the ministry said on Friday.

Taiwan’s military kept watch throughout, the ministry said, without giving details.

The Guardian understands the ship was HMAS Toowoomba and it sailed in international waters while on a regional deployment.
Australian navy vessels regularly transit through the Taiwan Strait using established international shipping lanes.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Euan Graham, a senior analyst at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, said when the Australian navy had previously transited through the Taiwan Strait it “chosoe not to publicise it”.

This week’s incident comes at a difficult time in Australia-China military relations even as the two countries seek to get diplomatic and trade ties back on track.

Last week, Canberra complained of an incident involving a Chinese warship and HMAS Toowoomba in Japan’s exclusive economic zone. Australia said some of its military divers were injured.

The US navy sends ships through the strait about once a month in what it calls “routine” transits. China regularly objects to these.

Taiwan has over the past four years complained of repeated Chinese military activity around the island, especially in the strait.

Taiwan, whose government rejects China’s sovereignty claims, is gearing up for presidential and parliamentary elections on 13 January.

The Australian navy transits through the Taiwan Strait because it is the shortest route between the East China Sea and South China Sea, Graham said.

“It is just exercising international passage rights through that strait. It is not a contentious area of international law – it’s just that China chooses to make an issue out of it,” he said.

Australia has said it respects the right of all states to exercise freedom of navigation and overflight in accordance with international law.