China’s military said on Saturday that the recent fly through of a US maritime plane through the Taiwan Strait deliberately disrupted the regional situation and endangered peace and stability.
Colonel Shi Yi, spokesman for the Eastern Theater Command of the People’s Liberation Army, said in a statement that the military had organized air and ground forces to monitor the US aircraft’s operation, which had taken place on Friday.
He added that they firmly opposed the actions by the United States and that their troops remained high on alert.
For the latest headlines, follow our Google News channel online or via the app.
The US navy did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The Taiwan Strait has been a frequent source of military tension since the defeated Republic of China government fled to Taiwan in 1949 after losing a civil war with the communists, who established the People’s Republic of China.
China has said previously that it has sovereignty and jurisdiction over the Taiwan Strait while the US and Taiwan assert that the strait separating the island from China is an international waterway.
The latest tension over the strait comes after Taiwan on Thursday said it had scrambled jets to warn away 22 Chinese aircraft in its air defense zone, the second large scale incursion reported during the week.
Taiwan, which China claims as its own territory, has complained in recent years of repeated missions by the Chinese air force near the democratically governed island, often in the southwestern part of its air defense identification zone, or ADIZ, close to the Taiwan-controlled Pratas Islands.
Read more:
Retired Taiwan general charged with spying for China
China’s Xi warns about ‘expanding military alliances’ at BRICS summit: State media
Philippines terminates China talks on oil and gas development in disputed sea
