BEIJING (AFP) — The Chinese military tailed a United States aircraft that was passing through the politically sensitive Taiwan Strait on Tuesday, Beijing’s army said, vowing to “resolutely defend national sovereignty.”
“On 17 September, a US P-8A anti-submarine patrol aircraft flew through the Taiwan Strait,” Li Xi, a senior captain and spokesperson for the Eastern Theater Command of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army, said in a statement.
The Command “organized fighter jets to tail and stand guard against the US aircraft’s flight, dealing with it in accordance with the law,” Li said.
“Theater troops are on constant high alert to resolutely defend national sovereignty and security and regional peace and stability.”
Beijing views self-ruled Taiwan as a renegade province and claims jurisdiction over the body of water that separates the island from the Chinese mainland.
China accused Germany on Saturday of heightening security risks in the Taiwan Strait after two military vessels from the country sailed through the waterway.
The US Navy’s Seventh Fleet said in a statement that a “P-8A Poseidon transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace on 17 September (local time).”
The statement did not mention the aircraft being tailed by the Chinese military.
“By operating within the Taiwan Strait in accordance with international law, the United States upholds the navigational rights and freedoms of all nations,” it added.
“The aircraft’s transit of the Taiwan Strait demonstrates the United States’ commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific.”