The Chinese military escorted a US missile destroyer as it passed through the Taiwan Strait. This was announced by the official representative of the Eastern zone of the combat command of the People’s Liberation Army of China (PLA) Shi Yi in a statement on the social network WeChat.
The American destroyer USS Milius passed through the strait on April 16.
“The Eastern Zone of the PLA Combat Command organized detachments to escort and monitor the destroyer along the entire route“, Shi Yi said in a statement.
The PLA stressed that the PRC military maintains a high degree of combat readiness to protect the sovereignty and security of the country.
Earlier, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said that China will take decisive and effective measures in response to the actions of Taiwan and the United States in order to protect its sovereignty and territory.
The aggravation of the situation around Taiwan occurred in August 2022 after a visit to the island at that time by the Speaker of the US House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi. China considers Taiwan its territory and condemned the visit of the politician. After that, the PRC decided to hold large-scale military exercises.
Official relations between the central government of China and its province of Taiwan broke off in 1949. Business and informal contacts between the island and the PRC resumed in the late 1980s. Since the 1990s, the parties have been in contact through the Beijing Association for the Development of Relations across the Taiwan Strait and the Taipei Foundation for Cross-Strait Exchanges.
