China announced on Monday that it was closely monitoring the passage of a US warship through the Taiwan Strait, which Beijing claimed, accusing the United States of deliberately creating “media noise” over the issue, AFP reported.

China’s military “constantly maintains a high level of combat readiness and resolutely defends national sovereignty and security, as well as regional peace and stability,” Shi Yi, a Chinese military spokesman, said in a statement released by the theater. East.

A US warship crossed the Taiwan Strait days after Chinese exercises in the area

The American destroyer USS Milius passed through the Taiwan Strait on Sunday, a week after large-scale Chinese military exercises in the same area, writes AFP.

The USS Milius “made a routine transit through the Taiwan Strait on Sunday, in waters where freedom of navigation and overflight on the high seas is respected in accordance with international law,” the US Navy said in a statement.

“The ship transited through a strait corridor located beyond any territorial sea of ​​a coastal state,” the statement added, according to which “the US military flies, navigates and operates wherever international law allows.”

This “routine” crossing took place just days after the end of China’s military maneuvers in the area.

China, which considers Taiwan a renegade province and has not ruled out the use of force for reintegration, last week again held three days of exercises around the island.

Beijing considers Taiwan a province that it has yet to reunite with the rest of the territory

In China, the rapprochement between the authorities of Taiwan and the United States in recent years is perceived with displeasure, which, despite the lack of official relations, provides the island with significant military support, Agerpres notes.

Beijing considers Taiwan a province it has yet to reunite with the rest of the territory after the end of the Chinese Civil War in 1949.

Last week, the USS Milius sailed near the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea, which are claimed by Beijing. The Chinese government condemned the “illegal invasion”.

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