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US Navy: watching 'all of the activities' in Indo-Pacific region
"The US Navy 7th Fleet remains committed to upholding the rules-based international order that underpins regional security and stability in the Indo-Pacific region," a public relations officer at the 7th Fleet told Reuters when asked to comment on the Chinese military drills around Taiwan this week.
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This handout photo from the US Navy taken on November 20, 2021 shows the US Navy's Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Milius (DDG 69) sailing in the South China Sea. China simulated “sealing off“ Taiwan during a third day of wargames around the self-ruled island on April 10, 2023, as the United States deployed a naval destroyer into Beijing-claimed waters in a show of force. (AFP/US Navy/Omar-Kareem Powell)
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he US Navy is paying attention to "all of the activities" in the Indo-Pacific and takes "very seriously" the responsibility to deter aggression in the region, a public relations officer of the US Navy 7th Fleet said on Friday.
"The US Navy 7th Fleet remains committed to upholding the rules-based international order that underpins regional security and stability in the Indo-Pacific region," a public relations officer at the 7th Fleet told Reuters when asked to comment on the Chinese military drills around Taiwan this week.
The Theodore Roosevelt Carrier Strike Group is continuing "normal, safe, and responsible exercises" as part of its routine deployment in the 7th Fleet area of operations, the officer said in emailed remarks without directly commenting on or referring to the Chinese drills.
On Friday, Chinese warships and fighter jets surrounded Taiwan in the second day of drills that Beijing said were testing its ability to seize the self-ruled island, days after its new president was sworn in.
China's military kicked off the war games Thursday morning, encircling Taiwan with naval vessels and military aircraft as it vowed the blood of "independence forces" on the island would flow.
The exercises were launched after Lai Ching-te took office as Taiwan's new president this week and made an inauguration speech that China denounced as a "confession of independence".
The drills are part of an escalating campaign of intimidation by China that has seen it carry out a series of large-scale military exercises around Taiwan in recent years.
They are testing the "capability of joint seizure of power, joint strikes and control of key territories", Li Xi, spokesman for the People's Liberation Army (PLA) Eastern Theater Command, said on Friday.
China, which split with Taiwan at the end of a civil war 75 years ago, regards the island as a renegade province with which it must eventually be reunified.
The dispute has long made the Taiwan Straits one of the world's most dangerous flashpoints, and this week's events have stoked fears that China may use military force to bring the island under mainland rule.
The United States, Taiwan's strongest ally and military backer, on Thursday "strongly" urged China to act with restraint. The United Nations called for all sides to avoid escalation.
