According to Japanese media reports, a Japanese warship passed through the Taiwan Strait between Taiwan and mainland China for the first time.
A Maritime Self-Defense Force destroyer, the Sazanami, passed through the strait from north to south on Wednesday on its way to participate in multilateral exercises in the South China Sea, government sources said.
Australian and New Zealand naval vessels participating in the exercise passed through the waterway along with Japanese ships.
Less than two weeks ago, Germany sent two warships through the narrow waters in what it said was a demonstration of freedom of navigation, a move that China condemned.
The defense ministries of Japan and Taiwan have yet to comment.
China’s state-run Global Times newspaper cited unnamed sources as saying the Chinese military “tracked and monitored the entire process.” [the vessels’] the whole process and took control of the situation”.
Both the United States and Taiwan say the 180-kilometer (112-mile) strait is part of international waters and is open to all naval vessels and is an important shipping and trade route through which about half of the world’s container fleet passes. .
But China claims self-ruled Taiwan as part of its territory and claims sovereignty and jurisdiction over the strait.
Baker Stratin, professor of international relations at Australia’s La Trobe University, said Japan’s reported transit was “part of a broader pattern of increasing naval presence by countries within and outside Asia that are concerned about China’s maritime claims”.
“Japan in particular has been grappling with China’s ‘grey zone’ tactics in the East China Sea,” she told AFP.
Analysts say gray zone warfare tactics are designed to weaken opponents over the long term.
Washington and its allies are increasingly crossing the Taiwan Strait to bolster its status as an international waterway.
The Chinese military accused Germany of increasing security risks by crossing the strait on September 13, but Berlin said its actions were in line with international standards. This is the first time in 22 years that a German naval ship has passed through the strait.
In addition to Germany and Japan, Canada, Australia and the United Kingdom have also had warships crossing the strait in recent years.
Tokyo has reported increased Chinese military activity near Japan and around Taiwan in recent months.
Last week, Beijing sent an aircraft carrier for the first time to and from two Japanese islands near Taiwan. August, one Chinese reconnaissance plane flies into Japanese airspaceprompting Tokyo to condemn the invasion as “completely unacceptable” and a “serious violation of sovereignty”.
Leaders of the Quad group of Japan, Australia, India and the United States said last week they would expand maritime security cooperation to counter China’s growing assertiveness in the South China Sea.
