US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said that preventing a war in the Taiwan Strait requires diplomacy with China, after the US Navy revealed earlier today that the US guided-missile destroyer "Chung-Hun" crossed the strait on Thursday, in a move that sparked outrage. Beijing.
Sullivan stressed the existence of a risk of conflict, but he considered that through responsible supervision can ensure that this does not happen, noting that it must be made to prevent the outbreak of war in the Taiwan Strait a priority.
These statements come after the US Navy revealed earlier today that the US guided-missile destroyer "Chung-Hun" carried out a routine transit operation in the Taiwan Strait on Thursday.
A spokeswoman for the US Seventh Fleet said the ship had crossed the strait from a passage outside the territorial waters of any littoral country, adding that the destroyer's transit showed the US commitment to keeping the Indo-Pacific region free and open.
The US administration regularly uses the term "Indo-Pacific" to refer to the Asia-Pacific region.
And the US Navy stressed that "the armed forces of the United States fly, sail and operate wherever international law allows."
For its part, Beijing announced that it firmly opposes the passage of the US destroyer through the Taiwan Strait yesterday, Thursday, and called on Washington to immediately stop creating trouble, escalating tension and harming peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait region.
The Chinese Army's Eastern Theater Command said it had deployed forces to monitor the passage of the American ship, and that all movements were under control.
The Taiwan Strait has been a frequent source of military tension since the defeated Republic of China's government fled to Taiwan in 1949 after losing a civil war with the Communists who founded the People's Republic of China.
US activity in the Taiwan Strait
American warships - and sometimes ships belonging to allied countries such as Britain and Canada - have sailed in the past few years through the strait, angering China, which considers Taiwan an integral part of its territory, and it must eventually be reunited with the mainland.
The last crossing of a destroyer was last September, when the US Navy said that its guided-missile destroyer "Arlie Burke Higgins" carried out what it called a "routine" crossing of the Taiwan Strait, which was condemned by the Chinese army.
to spy
On the other hand, Taiwan detained 3 serving officers and a retired Air Force officer on suspicion of spying for China, according to the Taipei Central News Agency, in a case that hints at the extent of Beijing's spying on its smaller neighbour.
Prosecutors suspect the retired officer recruited six officers and received payments ranging from 200,000 New Taiwan dollars (6,510 US dollars) to 700,000 New Taiwan dollars through a shell company, the KCNA said late Wednesday.