BEIJING: A US Navy patrol aircraft flew through the sensitive Taiwan Strait on Wednesday, the US military said, describing the mission as a demonstration of the country’s commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific.
China claims sovereignty over democratically governed Taiwan, and says it has jurisdiction over the strait. Taiwan and the United States dispute that, saying the Taiwan Strait is an international waterway.
The US Navy’s 7th Fleet said the P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol and reconnaissance plane, which is also used for anti-submarine missions, flew over the strait in international airspace.
“The aircraft’s transit of the Taiwan Strait demonstrates the United States’ commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific. The United States military flies, sails and operates anywhere international law allows,” it said in a statement.
There was no immediate comment from China.
The last time the US Navy announced a Poseidon had flown through the strait, in October, China said it had sent fighter jets to monitor and warn the aircraft.
Taiwan is gearing up for presidential and parliamentary elections on Jan. 13, which China has cast as a choice between war and peace.
China has stepped up its military activity around Taiwan in the past four years, including staging two rounds of major war games over the last year and a half.
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US Navy patrol plane flies over sensitive Taiwan Strait
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US Navy patrol plane flies over sensitive Taiwan Strait
- China claims sovereignty over democratically governed Taiwan, and says it has jurisdiction over the strait
Cambodia demands Thailand withdraw troops, week into border truce
PHNOM PENH: Cambodia called on neighboring Thailand on Saturday to pull out its forces from areas Phnom Penh claims as its own, one week since a truce halted deadly clashes along their disputed border.
The decades-old dispute between the Southeast Asian neighbors erupted into military clashes several times last year, with fighting in December killing dozens of people and displacing around one million on both sides.
The two countries agreed a truce on December 27, ending three weeks of clashes.
Cambodia says that during that period, Thailand seized several areas across four border provinces.
In a statement on Saturday, Phnom Penh’s foreign ministry demanded the withdrawal of “all Thai military personnel and equipment from the territory of the Kingdom of Cambodia to positions fully consistent with the legally established boundary.”
The Thai army has rejected claims it had used force to seize Cambodia territory, insisting its forces were present in areas that had always belonged to Thailand.
The Cambodian foreign ministry also called on Thailand to immediately end “all hostile military activities” along the frontier and “within Cambodian territory.”
The two nations’ border conflict stems from a dispute over the colonial-era demarcation of their 800-kilometer (500-mile) border, where both sides claim territory and centuries-old temple ruins.
On Friday, Cambodia’s Information Minister Neth Pheaktra accused Thailand of launching the “illegal annexation” of the border village of Chouk Chey.
The Thai army disputed Phnom Penh’s narrative, and Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said his country “has never breached another country’s sovereignty and has acted in line with international regulations.”
Anutin was speaking on Friday while visiting troops deployed to the border province of Surin.
The decades-old dispute between the Southeast Asian neighbors erupted into military clashes several times last year, with fighting in December killing dozens of people and displacing around one million on both sides.
The two countries agreed a truce on December 27, ending three weeks of clashes.
Cambodia says that during that period, Thailand seized several areas across four border provinces.
In a statement on Saturday, Phnom Penh’s foreign ministry demanded the withdrawal of “all Thai military personnel and equipment from the territory of the Kingdom of Cambodia to positions fully consistent with the legally established boundary.”
The Thai army has rejected claims it had used force to seize Cambodia territory, insisting its forces were present in areas that had always belonged to Thailand.
The Cambodian foreign ministry also called on Thailand to immediately end “all hostile military activities” along the frontier and “within Cambodian territory.”
The two nations’ border conflict stems from a dispute over the colonial-era demarcation of their 800-kilometer (500-mile) border, where both sides claim territory and centuries-old temple ruins.
On Friday, Cambodia’s Information Minister Neth Pheaktra accused Thailand of launching the “illegal annexation” of the border village of Chouk Chey.
The Thai army disputed Phnom Penh’s narrative, and Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said his country “has never breached another country’s sovereignty and has acted in line with international regulations.”
Anutin was speaking on Friday while visiting troops deployed to the border province of Surin.
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