By James Pomfret and Ismail Shakil
TAIPEI/OTTAWA (Reuters) – A Canadian warship passed through the Taiwan Strait in what Ottawa called a commitment to an open Indo-Pacific, drawing a rebuke from China that the naval exercise on July 31 undermined peace.
Canada’s defense ministry said the HMCS Montreal frigate had “recently conducted a routine transit” through the strait in what its defence minister said was a reaffirmation of Canada’s commitment to a “free, open and inclusive” Indo-Pacific.
“As outlined in our Indo-Pacific Strategy, Canada is increasing the presence of the Royal Canadian Navy in the Indo-Pacific region,” Defence Minister Bill Blair said, referring to Canada’s plan for the region announced in 2022.
Li Xi, a spokesperson for the People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) Eastern Theater Command, said the passage of the Canadian frigate on July 31 had “harassed and disrupted the situation and undermined peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait.”
China’s troops, he added, were on high alert at all times and are “ready to respond to all threats and provocations.”
China claims sovereignty over democratically governed Taiwan, and says it has jurisdiction over the nearly 180km (110 miles) wide waterway dividing the two sides. Taiwan and the United States dispute that, saying the Taiwan Strait is an international waterway.
U.S. warships, and occasionally U.S. Navy patrol aircraft, pass through or over the strait about once a month.
Canadian naval vessels are less common, though last November the U.S. destroyer USS Rafael Peralta and a Royal Canadian Navy frigate HMCS Ottawa conducted a joint transit trhough the strait.
Last June, during another joint U.S.-Canada drill in the strait, a Chinese warship came within 150 yards (137 meters) of a U.S. destroyer in what the Pentagon called “an unsafe manner.”
Taiwan’s defence ministry said in a statement on Thursday that the island’s military had “full control” over the surrounding sea and airspace during the Canadian frigate’s transit from north to south through the strait, and that the situation was normal.
(Additional reporting from Beijing newsroom; Editing by Himani Sarkar and Stephen Coates)
