• China continues its simulation of attacks on "key targets" in Taiwan
  • U.S.-Taiwan Bilateral Relations Challenge China

China on Monday condemned the "illegal" intrusion of a U.S. warship into waters it claims in the South China Sea, after the U.S. Navy said the guided-missile destroyer USS Milius had sailed in the area.

"The missile destroyer USS Milius illegally entered waters adjacent to Meiji Reef in China's Nansha Islands without the approval of the Chinese government," Tian Junli, spokesman for the Chinese military's Southern Theater Command, said in a statement. The Chinese Air Force "followed and monitored the vessel," he added.

The United States announced Monday that a missile destroyer is sailing through the area amid escalating tensions over high-intensity Chinese military maneuvers around Taiwan.

According to a statement released by the US Navy's Seventh Fleet, the Arleigh Burke-class destroyer USS Milius sails "close" to the Spratly Islands, which China disputes with the Philippines, Taiwan, Malaysia, Vietnam and Brunei, in an exercise in defense of "freedom of navigation consistent with international law."

In particular, the text adds that the ship performs "normal operations" in the twelve nautical miles (the limit established by the UN to designate the sovereignty of a state in maritime territories) of the Mischief reef, in the Spratlys, which China has occupied and which is disputed by Taiwan, the Philippines and Vietnam.

"

Illegitimate claims in the South China Sea pose a serious threat to freedom of navigation," the US statement added, in a veiled reference to Beijing.

China's maneuvers in Taiwan

The shipment of the US destroyer comes amid an escalation of tensions between China and the US, with Beijing ending wide-ranging military exercises around Taiwan on Monday in retaliation for the meeting last Wednesday in California (USA) between Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen and the speaker of the US House of Representatives. Kevin McCarthy.

A total of 59 aircraft and eleven military ships from China made incursions on Monday morning in areas around Taiwan during the maneuvers carried out by the Chinese Army in areas near the island.

Likewise, Taiwan, a self-governing island that Beijing does not rule out invading, and the South China Sea, rich in natural resources and that China claims almost entirely, have been the objective of the US in its recent agreement with the Philippines to expand a defense agreement that allows its troops to operate from four new military bases in the Asian archipelago.

Authorities in the Philippines revealed a week ago the location of those new bases, including two less than 400 kilometers from Taiwan and another facing the disputed South China Sea.

  • Taiwan
  • China
  • United States

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