Chinese warship passed in ‘unsafe manner' near US destroyer in Taiwan Strait
A Chinese warship came within 150 yards (137 meters) of a US destroyer in the Taiwan Strait in 'an unsafe manner,' US military officials said, as China blamed the United States for 'deliberately provoking risk' in the region.
United States and Canadian navies on Saturday were conducting a joint exercise in the strait, which separates the island of Taiwan and China, when the Chinese ship cut in front of the US guided-missile destroyer Chung-Hoon forcing it to slow down to avoid a collision, the US Indo-Pacific Command said in a statement.
China's military rebuked the US and Canada for 'deliberately provoking risk' after the countries' navies staged a rare joint sailing through the sensitive Taiwan Strait.
The US Indo-Pacific Command said the Chung-Hoon and Canada's Montreal were conducting a 'routine' transit of the strait when the Chinese ship cut in front of the US warship.
The People's Republic of China has claimed self-ruled Taiwan as its territory since the defeated Republic of China government fled to the island in 1949 after losing a civil war to Mao Zedong's communists. Taiwan's government says the People's Republic of China has never ruled the island and US President Joe Biden has said the US would defend Taiwan in the event of a Chinese invasion.
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