A Japanese warship sailed through the Taiwan Strait between Taiwan and the Chinese mainland for the first time, Japanese media have reported.
The Sazanami, a Maritime Self-Defense Force destroyer, passed through the strait from north to south on Wednesday while on its way to participate in multilateral drills in the South China Sea, government sources were quoted as saying.
Navy ships from Australia and New Zealand, which were part of the exercise, transited the waterway with the Japanese vessel.
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Taiwan said Thursday that 43 Chinese aircraft and eight naval vessels were detected around the democratic island within a 24-hour period, movements that came as a Japanese warship cruised through the sensitive Taiwan Strait.
ReplyDeleteChina, which claims democratic Taiwan as part of its territory, sends warplanes, drones and naval vessels around the island nearly every day.
The latest incursions came as Japanese media reported that a Japanese warship sailed through the sensitive Taiwan Strait for the first time to assert its freedom of navigation.
There was no immediate confirmation from Tokyo of the passage, which media reports said took place on Wednesday following similar journeys by US and European navies in recent years.