( Image credits : Al Arabiya )
United States has just released a videotape of a Chinese boat pacing in what the United States Navy called” unsafe interaction ” in the Taiwan Strait. The incident shows a Chinese warship catching upto a United States destroyer. This incident of grave concern took place in a largely sensitive region. After the Shangri- La debacle the incident has further deteriorated relations between China and the United States.
The hassle comes as both countries trade blame for not holding military discussions between the two over everything from trade and Taiwan to Russia’s imvasion of Ukraine- and raises the spectre of future face-offs that could go out of control.
Table of Contents
The Incident
( Image credits : The Hindu )
The U.S. service said the USS Chung- Hoon, a destroyer, and Canada’s HSMC Montreal, a frigate, were conducting a” routine conveyance ” of the strait on Saturday when the Chinese boat cut in front of theU.S. vessel, coming within 150 yards.
A video was released by the US Navy detailing the incident that took place,on late Sunday. It shows a Chinese warship smoothly cruising across the path of the Chung- Hoon in calm waters. During the incident Chung- Hoon did not change course.
An unidentified voice can be heard speaking in English, it is speculated to be transferring of a radio communication provided to the Chinese boat, advising against” attempts to limit freedom of navigation”, though the exact words are unable to understand as it is unclear because of disturbances due to wind
Provocations
( Image credits : Telecom Review )
” The measures taken by the Chinese service are fully reasonable, licit, professional and safe,” said Wang Wenbin, a spokesperson at the Chinese foreign ministry. He added that it was the United States who conducted provocative actions first while China followed all the rules and regulations during the incident.The statement was issued by Mr Wang at a regular monday press conference when asked about the videotape released by the United States authorities.
The Chinese defence ministry did not respond to a comment request on the issue by journalists on Monday. On Saturday night, China’s military rebuked the United States and Canada for” designedly provoking threat” with the rare common sailing.
The Taiwan tale
( Image credits : South China Morning Post )
Taiwan or officially the Republic of China is an island nation located between the east china sea and the south china sea. In the aftermath of the Chinese civil war, the Chinese mainland was lost to the Communist forces whereas the Republic of China’s supporters drew back to the island of Taiwan.
Taiwan remains only a partially recognised nation. The United States considers Taiwan an important partner and has signed the Mutual Defence Treaty protecting Taiwan in case of an invasion from the Chinese mainland.
However, the United States does not operate an official embassy in the Republic of China, rather operates by the name of the American Institute in Taiwan.
Taiwan Strait Crisis
( Image credits : The Hindu )
This refers to the incident that took place in 1958 in the Taiwan Strait when the People’s Republic of China tried to take control of the Island of Taiwan of the Republic of China from the Chinese Nationalist Party.
The initial rift began when the People’s Republic of China fired artillery shells at the islands of Kinmen and Matsu archipelago in an attempt to destroy all of the Republic of China’s military installations.
The war continued with an agreement to fire shots intermittently along propaganda papers and normal diplomatic relations between both nations could be restored only by 1979
