South China Sea conflict: US naval destroyer passes through Taiwan Strait, draws ire of China

Tensions remain between China and the United States surrounding the highly-contested South China Sea. Washington drew the ire of Beijing when a naval destroyer passed through the Taiwan Strait.

China blasted the US again for the transit of its naval destroyer through the Taiwan Strait this week, accusing Washington of compromising stability and undermining peace in the region. The destroyer passed through the Strait as part of its routine freedom of navigation exercise.

China’s People’s Liberation Army Eastern Theatre Command issued a statement, accusing the US of engaging in “provocative” naval activities and sending the “wrong signals” to Taiwan’s independence forces.

To note, the US has regularly deployed naval destroyers through the Strait, but other allies such as France have sometimes deployed a naval patrol in the area. The waterway separates China from Taiwan and other islands. Beijing claims Taiwan and most of the body of water as under its control, though an international tribunal has rejected the claims citing the lack of legal basis.

The US regards the Taiwan Strait as international waters. The US 7th Fleet said the USS Sampson sailed from north to south through the Strait Tuesday.

“The ship’s transit through the Taiwan Strait demonstrates the United States’ commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific,” the 7th Fleet said in a statement. “The United States military flies, sails, and operates anywhere international law allows.”

The transit was also confirmed by Taiwan’s Defense Ministry that the destroyer sailed from north to south as part of a routine patrol. While Washington does not recognize the democratically-governed Taiwan as part of China, it is one of the island nation’s allies. Washington has also pledged to assist Taiwan in bolstering its defenses should China attack the island.

Taiwan remains a hot issue between Beijing and Washington, and the ongoing war in Ukraine waged by Russia has led to fears among the Taiwanese of the possible danger they face should China decide to invade. Taiwan-based professional Wei Lin-Tseng told Al Jazeera that what is happening in Ukraine, “kind of gave us an alert that we probably need to learn about what to do in an emergency.”

The non-government organization Forward Alliance has been holding workshops that aim to teach civilians what to do in case of an emergency, such as the basics of trauma medicine and skills to survive an emergency.