Beijing accuses the US of ‘deliberately undermining peace’

Beijing accuses the US of ‘deliberately undermining peace’ by deploying a warship across the Taiwan Strait.

China has slammed the United States for sending a guided-missile destroyer across the Taiwan Strait just a few days earlier.

“The Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Sampson (DDG 102) performed a regular Taiwan Strait transit in international waters on April 26 (local time) in compliance with international law,” the US Navy’s Japan-based Seventh Fleet said in a statement.

“The ship’s passage across the Taiwan Strait underlines the US commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific.” The US military “flies, sails, and operates wherever international law permits,” it added.

However, China accused the United States on Wednesday of publicising the incident.

“The US’s frequent provocations have conveyed the incorrect signals to ‘Taiwan independence’ forces and purposefully disrupted peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait,” said senior colonel Shi Yi, a Chinese military spokeswoman. “We vehemently reject it.”