Royal Navy patrol ship HMS Spey has transited the Taiwan Strait, reaffirming the UK’s dedication to freedom of navigation in worldwide waters.
The British Workplace in Taipei confirmed the voyage occurred on Wednesday, 18 June.
Taiwan’s Ministry of International Affairs welcomed the transit, stating that the UK had as soon as once more “defended freedom of navigation within the Taiwan Strait with sensible actions and demonstrated its agency place that the Taiwan Strait belongs to worldwide waters.”
The Royal Navy’s earlier passage by the Taiwan Strait occurred in 2021, when HMS Richmond, as a part of the UK Service Strike Group, made an identical transit. That voyage drew sharp condemnation from Beijing, which dispatched navy property to shadow the vessel.
In a press release following the newest patrol, the British Workplace in Taipei famous: “Wherever the Royal Navy operates, it does so in full compliance with worldwide regulation and workouts its proper to freedom of navigation and overflight offered by UNCLOS.”
The transit was additionally carried out “in accordance with the rights offered underneath the United Nations Conference on the Regulation of the Sea (UNCLOS),” it stated, citing the authorized standing of the Strait as worldwide waters.
Taiwan’s international ministry praised the operation as a part of wider efforts by like-minded nations to uphold peace and stability within the Indo-Pacific area.
Nevertheless, China reacted with fury. State-run media reported that the Individuals’s Liberation Military Jap Theatre Command monitored HMS Spey all through its journey, calling the passage an intentional provocation.
Senior Colonel Liu Runke, spokesperson for the PLA Navy, accused the UK of “hyping up” the transit and described the transfer as a “distortion of authorized ideas and an try to mislead the general public.” The PLA claimed the operation “undermined peace and stability” within the area and warned that Chinese language forces would “resolutely counter all threats and provocations.”
Later, a Chinese language international ministry spokesman added that whereas China “respects different nations’ rights to sail by the Taiwan Strait,” it “firmly opposes any nation utilizing the identify of freedom of navigation to impress and threaten China’s sovereign safety.”
China regards Taiwan as a part of its territory and has not dominated out the usage of drive to deliver the self-governed island underneath its management. Taiwan strongly rejects this declare and maintains its de facto independence.
Regardless of China’s objections, worldwide regulation together with the 2016 ruling by the Everlasting Courtroom of Arbitration in The Hague affirms that the Taiwan Strait stays worldwide waters. The UK, alongside allies, continues to conduct lawful operations there as a part of a rules-based maritime order.