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U.S. Navy guided-missile destroyer USS Chung-Hoon sails alongside the Royal Canadian Navy frigate HMCS Montreal during Surface Action Group operations as a part of exercise “Noble Wolverine" in the South China Sea May 30, 2023.
China isn’t pleased that Canada recently sailed a warship through the Taiwan Strait. Beijing has launched a complaint against the Canadians, arguing the incident “caused disturbance and stirred up trouble” and warning it to “abide by the One-China Principle.”
In July, China logged a similar complaint against Japan.
Last year, the United States and Canada launched a coordinated sailing of the Strait as a freedom-of-navigation exercise, which earned Chinese ire despite protests from the NATO allies that the outing was legal under international law. That came just after a near-miss between US and Chinese warships led to escalated tensions between the two countries.
Canada’s Indo-Pacific Strategy includes growing its naval presence in the region, which suggests more sailings — and complaints from China — to come.
Last month, the US Coast Guard reported Chinese warships near Alaska, within international waters but close to the country’s coastline. A year earlier, China and Russia set out on a joint patrol in the same region, prompting the US to keep a close watch with its own ships and a recon plane in response to what it called a “highly provocative” move.