China sparks new tensions in Taiwan Strait: Regime puts its troops on “high alert”

Officials of the Chinese government announced this Thursday Its troops are on “constant maximum alert”. After several ships from the US and Canada passed through the Taiwan Strait for the second time in two months.

He Royal Canadian Navy’s USS Rafael Peralta and the battleship HMCS Ottawa They conducted a series of maneuvers throughout the day, including “routine transit” through the strait, the US Navy pointed out in a statement.

“The troops will continue to be on high alert and will resolutely protect national sovereignty and security, as well as peace and stability in the region,” he said. Colonel Shi YiA spokesperson for the Chinese Armed Forces said in a statement.

According to Yi, the passage of the North American destroyer and the Canadian warship “has caused a great public stir.”

A spokesman for the Eastern Theater of Operations said He organized forces to “pursue and monitor” American warships.

Route of these ships On September 9, two warships from the United States and Canada crossed the strait separating the island from mainland China.

The US and its allies have increased crossings in both the Taiwan Strait and the disputed South China Sea. It has been trying to assert the principle of “free navigation” in waters over which China continues to claim sovereignty.

The US Seventh Fleet said the transport was carried out in accordance with international law. “Through a corridor in a strait beyond the territorial sea of ​​any State.”

The presence of warships in the area coincides with maneuvers led by the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLA) aircraft carrier Shandong in the waters near the island of Taiwan.

The exercises, which began on October 26, have been reinforced in recent days with the participation of additional PLA aviation and naval forces.

Taiwan’s defense officials announced this Wednesday that they had detected 43 PLA aircraft and seven ships near the island, many of which crossed the median line in the Taiwan Strait.

In September, Taipei reported recorded incursions by the Chinese military, after which it condemned China’s “military harassment”.

Taiwan – which the Chinese Nationalist Army retreated to after being defeated by Communist troops in a civil war – has been governed autonomously since 1949, although the Chinese regime claims sovereignty over the island, which it considers a province. Power consumption.

In an increasingly tense environment, this week Chinese rule again threatened Taiwan He warned that “he will show no mercy” in the face of “any action favorable to Taiwan’s independence.” General Zhang Yuxia, vice chairman of the Central Military Commission, a top official of the Chinese military, made the announcement during the tenth edition of the Xiangshan Regional Forum on Cooperation and Security.

“Who wants to separate Taiwan from China, or in any way does not care. The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) will never accept that,” Zhang said. “China will never tolerate any attempt to separate the island from China,” he added.

The statements come less than two months before the island holds presidential and legislative elections on Jan. 13 to determine the direction of Taiwanese policy toward China, at a time of strong tensions between Taipei and Beijing.

Current Vice President, William LoyThe ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) is leading the polls to win the election.

(with information from Europa Press and EFE)