The Chinese Foreign Ministry confirmed today, Monday, that the United States has recently been sending ships and planes to the South China Sea, and that this action does not serve to bring peace to that region.
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“The United States often sends aircraft and ships to the South China Sea to show its strength,” said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian, stressing that this “does not serve peace and stability in the region.”
The Chinese spokesman also reiterated his country’s stance that “Taiwan is an inalienable part of China,” and that “the United States should adhere to the one-China principle.”
On the other hand, the office of Tsai Ing-wen, President of Taiwan, reported that the latter visited a radar base in the north of the island (the country), on Monday, and praised the capabilities of monitoring and tracking Chinese forces.
The president told the officers: “Since last year until now, our radar stations have detected about two thousand (Chinese) communist aircraft, and more than 400 communist ships, which enabled us quickly to track and remove them, and fully guard our seas and airspace.”
These statements came after an American aircraft carrier group entered the disputed maritime waterway (between China and Taiwan), as the US military announced, on Sunday, that the aircraft carrier group, “Theodore Roosevelt”, had entered the South China Sea to promote “freedom of the seas”. A time when tension between China and Taiwan is causing concern in Washington.
The US Indian Ocean and Pacific Region Command stated, in a statement, that the attack group entered the South China Sea, last Saturday, the same day that Taiwan announced an incursion of Chinese bombers and fighters into an area it claimed to be affiliated with it, near the Bratas Islands.
The statement added that the US Naval Group entered the waterway, of which China claims sovereignty, to conduct routine operations “to ensure freedom of the seas and build partnerships that enhance maritime security.”
This comes days after the inauguration of the elected Democratic candidate, Joe Biden, as President of the United States.
For its part, the Biden administration affirmed that the US commitment to Taiwan is firm.
The United States, like other countries, does not have diplomatic relations with Taiwan, but it is the strongest international supporter and largest supplier of weapons to this island, which angered China.
Source: Reuters
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