China Says U.S. Warship Sailing In Taiwan Strait ‘Provocative’

[Gunny]

PRC's just not ready to play its hand. Will eventually. I think PRC was taken by surprise at World reaction to Russia invading Ukraine as Russia has been.


February 26, 2022
TAIPEI (Reuters) -A U.S. warship sailed through the sensitive Taiwan Strait on Saturday, part of what the U.S. military calls routine activity but which China described as “provocative”.
The U.S. Navy’s 7th Fleet said the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Ralph Johnson was conducting a “routine” transit through international waters.
“The ship’s transit through the Taiwan Strait demonstrates the United States’ commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific,” 7th Fleet spokesperson Nicholas Lingo said in a statement. “The United States military flies, sails, and operates anywhere international law allows.”
The Eastern Theatre Command of China’s People’s Liberation Army monitored the passage, which a spokesperson in a statement called a “provocative act.”
Taiwan’s Defence Ministry said the ship sailed in a northerly direction through the Strait, that its forces had monitored its passage and observed nothing out of the ordinary.
Taiwan is currently in a heightened state of alert due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, nervous that China may try to take advantage of the situation to make a move on the island though the government has reported no unusual Chinese manoeuvres.
Last year, U.S. naval ships transited the Strait roughly monthly. Saturday’s sailing was the first since November.
China claims democratically ruled Taiwan as its own territory and has mounted repeated air force missions into Taiwan’s air defence identification zone (ADIZ) over the past two years, provoking anger in Taipei.
Taiwan’s Defence Ministry said that on Saturday eight Chinese aircraft – six fighters and two anti-submarine aircraft – flew into its ADIZ, to the northeast of the Taiwan-controlled Pratas Islands at the top end of the South China Sea.
Beijing calls Taiwan the most sensitive and important issue in its relations with Washington.
Like most countries, the United States has no formal diplomatic ties with Taiwan but is its most important international backer and arms supplier.
(Reporting by Ben Blanchard in Taipei and Tony Munroe in BeijingEditing by Sam Holmes and Mark Potter)
https://www.oann.com/china-says-u-s-warship-sailing-in-taiwan-strait-provocative/

[Gunny]

https://www.politico.com/news/2022/02/26/china-sees-strategic-advantage-in-russias-ukraine-invasion-00012032

Trusting China to be on the right side now is about as brilliant as trusting the USSR in WWII.

[Gunny]

More mixed-signal, sitting on the fence from the other commies:rolleyes:


February 26, 2022
BEIJING (Reuters) – Chinese ride-hailing giant Didi Global said on Saturday that it would continue to operate in Russia, reversing a decision announced on Monday that it was leaving that country as well as Kazakhstan.
No explanation was given. Didi did not immediately respond to a request for further comment.
On Monday, Didi said it was leaving Russia on March 4, about a year and a half after launching services there. It has been in Kazakhstan for about a year.
“Unfortunately, due to changing market conditions and other challenges, it has become clear at the moment we will not be able to provide the best results in Russia and Kazakhstan,” it said on Monday.
Neither statement mentioned geopolitical factors in the decision, but some critics online said the timing of the move opened Didi to accusations of succumbing to U.S. pressure on Russia, which invaded neighbouring Ukraine on Thursday.
Saturday’s statement did not mention Kazakhstan.
The Chinese government has called for dialogue on Ukraine but has refrained from condemning Russia’s attack or calling it an invasion.
Didi has had a turbulent time since it went public last summer in New York. Under pressure from Chinese regulators concerned about data security, Didi in December said it will delist from the NYSE and pursue a Hong Kong listing.
(Reporting by Tony Munroe and Brenda Goh; Editing by William Mallard)
https://www.oann.com/chinas-didi-reverses-course-will-remain-in-russia/

[fj1200]

China was triggered?!? Heavens to Betsy. :eek:

[Gunny]

Nope. No comparison at all. Former Empire claiming territory it once held at some point in time and has lost to time long ago. Nothing to see here :rolleyes:

I can understand wanting to distance itself from the comparison, but it's there. Fact is, the one thing Putin has right is that most of Ukraine historically was part of Russia. Since the Muscovite Rus expanded out of Moscow and pushed out the Mongols. The Western part of Ukraine was usually part of Lithuania and Poland.

Taiwan was part of China until 1949 when Chinese Nationalist forces fled the mainland under Mao's assault.

It no longer surprises me listening to idiots flip-flop history to suit their own agendas. Where in history do we draw the line between what was and what is? Usually depends on what some psychopath is after :rolleyes:


February 28, 2022
TAIPEI (Reuters) – It is inappropriate to link Taiwan’s situation to that of Ukraine’s as the two are completely different and people should not try to manipulate the situation by saying “today’s Ukraine is tomorrow’s Taiwan”, the government said on Monday.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is being watched closely in Taiwan, which China claims as its own territory and which has faced increased military pressure from Beijing over the last two years as it tries to force Taipei to accept Chinese sovereignty.
Taiwan’s democratically elected government has repeatedly said the island’s situation and Ukraine’s are fundamentally different.
But Cabinet spokesperson Lo Ping-cheng, in a statement released at the end of a long holiday weekend, took those comments a step further to decry fear-mongerers, elaborating on why people should not to believe rumours.
Taiwan is not only important geopolitically, it has a natural barrier of the Taiwan Strait – which separates it from China – and is a key part of the global high-tech supply chain, he added, referring to its major role in making semiconductors.
“In all areas, the two cannot be compared,” Lo added.
“But there are those using this opportunity to manipulate the so-called (topic) of ‘today’s Ukraine, tomorrow’s Taiwan’, trying to inappropriately link Ukraine’s situation with Taiwan’s, disturbing people’s morale. This is inadvisable.”
Because of China’s frequent “schemes” against Taiwan, the government does take stock of materials needed in the event of war, and this month conducted a routine annual review of air raid shelters, but people should not draw a connection between this and the war in Ukraine, he said.
President Tsai Ing-wen and Premier Su Tseng-chang have repeatedly stressed government departments should step up efforts to combat “external forces using the Ukraine-Russia conflict to carry out cognitive warfare against us”, Lo added.
Taiwan has reported no unusual military movements by China since the war began, but has stepped up its alert level.
On Monday, Taiwan reported seven Chinese aircraft in its air defence zone but far from the island itself, part of a pattern of what the government calls China’s “grey zone” warfare designed to wear out Taiwanese forces by making them regularly scramble.
The Chinese government has also said the issues of Ukraine and Taiwan cannot be linked as the island has always been an inalienable part of China.
Taiwan strongly disputes China’s territorial claims, and says only the Taiwanese people can decide their own future.
(Reporting by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Bernadette Baum)
https://www.oann.com/taiwan-says-inappropriate-to-link-its-situation-to-ukraines/