China accuses US of ‘hyping’ warship passage through Taiwan Strait as island inaugurates new president

China’s military has accused America of “hyping” the passage of a US destroyer through the narrow Taiwan Strait and raising tensions, less than two weeks before the island’s new president takes office.

The U.S. Navy’s 7th Fleet said Wednesday that the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Halsey passed through waters in accordance with international law.

The latest mission of the US warship comes at a sensitive time: Taiwan’s new president, Lai Ching-te, will be inaugurated on May 20. The newly elected president has long faced Beijing’s wrath for standing up for Taiwan’s sovereignty.

In a statement, Senior Navy Capt. Li Xi, spokesman for the Eastern Theater Command, said the passage of the USS Halsey was controlled by the command that oversees operations around the strait.

“Troops in the theater are always on high alert and will resolutely defend national sovereignty and security, as well as regional peace and stability,” the People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command said in a statement.

Xi accused the US of publicly hyping the passage of the USS Halsey.

The US Navy said on Wednesday that the mission was a “routine transit through the Taiwan Strait” “through waters where freedom of navigation and overflight on the high seas applies in accordance with international law”.

“Halsey’s passage through the Taiwan Strait demonstrates the United States’ commitment to upholding freedom of navigation for all nations as a principle,” the fleet statement said.

“No member of the international community should be intimidated or coerced into giving up their rights and freedoms. The U.S. military flies, sails and operates wherever international law allows.”

Taiwan’s Defense Ministry said the US ship was sailing south through the strait and that Taiwanese forces had been monitoring the situation but had observed nothing unusual.

This is the last passage of a US warship around the waters since April 17, when a US P-8A anti-submarine patrol aircraft flew through the Taiwan Strait.

China, which claims the entire island, also sees the passage of warships from the US, Britain and other countries through the Taiwan Strait as a challenge to its sovereignty. However, the heavily trafficked strait is international waters and vital to global trade.

In what Taipei calls intimidation tactics, China sends naval ships and warplanes into the strait and other areas around the island on an almost daily basis to weaken Taiwan’s defenses.

Taiwan’s Defense Ministry, which regularly monitors Chinese movements around the island, said 23 Chinese military fighter jets and eight naval vessels were active across the country in the 24 hours leading up to Thursday morning.

Eight of the planes crossed the center line in the strait and entered Taiwan’s air defense identification zone, prompting Taiwan to fly fighter jets and put coastal missile batteries and naval vessels on alert during the latest altercation.

It comes as the US and Chinese defense chiefs held their first talks since November 2022 in a bid to ease regional tensions.

Military-to-military contact between US and Chinese forces came to a standstill in August 2022, when Beijing suspended all such communications following then-Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi’s controversial visit to Taiwan.

China responded by firing missiles over Taiwan and carrying out a wave of military maneuvers, including what appeared to be a rehearsal of a naval and air blockade of the island.