Expand / Collapse search
Watch TV
Menu

This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. ©2024 FOX News Network, LLC. All rights reserved. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. Market data provided by Factset. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. Legal Statement. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper.

China

China tails US warship as it sails through Taiwan Strait

This is the 12th time the US has sent a ship through the straits this year

By Eileen AJ Connelly New York Post
Published
close
Fox News Flash top headlines for Dec. 19 Video

Fox News Flash top headlines for Dec. 19

Fox News Flash top headlines are here. Check out what's clicking on Foxnews.com.

Chinese warplanes and naval ships "tailed and monitored" an American destroyer as it sailed through the Taiwan Strait Saturday.

The US Navy said the guided missile destroyer USS Mustin had conducted "a routine Taiwan Strait transit Dec. 19 in accordance with international law."

"The ship’s transit through the Taiwan Strait demonstrates the US commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific," the Navy statement said.

 The warship USS Mustin sails near the port in Sihanoukville,  139 miles west of Phnom Penh, Oct. 11, 2008. The USS Mustin is in Cambodia to strengthen bilateral ties between the U.S. and Cambodia, and to carry out humanitarian and medical missions for locals, a U.S. embassy spokesman said. REUTERS/Stringer   (Reuters)

But China accused the US of provocation, Reuters reported. Such missions "deliberately raise the temperature of the Taiwan issue, as they fear calm in the Taiwan Strait, and send flirtatious glances to Taiwan independence forces, seriously jeopardizing peace and stability in the strait," the Chinese military said.

China opposes any military relationship between the US and Taiwan.

It was the 12th time this year the US Navy sent a ship through the strait.

MCCARTHY GETS FBI BRIEFING ON SWALWELL: 'HE SHOULD NOT BE ON INTEL' COMMITTEE

In Taipei, Taiwan’s Defense Ministry said it monitored the Mustin’s movements, and that "the situation was as normal."

Beijing, which sees the island as a breakaway province, is worried that Taiwan plans to formally declare independence.

Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen says Taiwan is already an independent country called the Republic of China. She has built up Taiwan’s armed forces as China has increased its military activity near the island.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Earlier this year, China sent fighter jets across the Taiwan Strait’s median line, an unofficial buffer.