SYDNEY, Feb 22 (Reuters) – An Australian warship sailed through the Taiwan Strait, the latest transit by a U.S. ally through the sensitive waterway, a government source said on Sunday, and Chinese state-backed media said the vessel was being tracked and monitored by the Chinese military.
In addition to claiming sovereignty over democratically governed Taiwan, Beijing considers the narrow, highly strategic strait its territorial waters and has at times responded aggressively to foreign navies sailing in the waters.
The Royal Australian Navy’s Anzac-class frigate Toowoomba “routinely transited the Taiwan Strait” on Friday and Saturday as part of a “regional presence deployment in the Indo-Pacific region,” sources said.
“All interactions with foreign ships and aircraft are safe and professional,” the source said.
“The Chinese People’s Liberation Army conducted full tracking, surveillance and alert operations throughout the entire border crossing,” China’s state-backed Global Times newspaper said late Saturday, citing an unnamed Chinese military source.
U.S. warships transit the strait every few months, angering Beijing, and U.S. allies such as France, Australia, Britain and Canada also transit occasionally.
China has stepped up its military presence around Taiwan and held its latest military drills near the island in late December.
Taiwan’s government rejects Beijing’s sovereignty claims, saying only its people can determine their future.
(Reporting by Sam McKeith in newsrooms in Sydney and Beijing; Writing and additional reporting by Ben Blanchard in Taipei; Editing by William Mallard)