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China sends naval, air forces to shadow US plane over Taiwan Strait
Around once a month, US military ships or aircraft pass through or above the waterway that separates democratically governed Taiwan from China - missions that always anger Beijing.
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The guided-missile destroyer USS Decatur (DDG 73) operates in the South China Sea as part of the Bonhomme Richard Expeditionary Strike Group (ESG) on October 21, 2016. An American warship has sailed through waters off the contested Spratly Islands in the South China Sea, in the latest implicit challenge to Beijing's sweeping territorial claims in the region, the Pentagon said Sunday, September 30, 2018. (AFP/-)
C
hina's military said on Tuesday it deployed naval and air forces to monitor and warn a US Navy patrol aircraft that flew through the sensitive Taiwan Strait, denouncing the United States for trying to "mislead" the international community.
Around once a month, US military ships or aircraft pass through or above the waterway that separates democratically governed Taiwan from China - missions that always anger Beijing.
China claims sovereignty over Taiwan and says it has jurisdiction over the strait. Taiwan and the United States dispute that, saying the strait is an international waterway.
The US Navy's 7th fleet said a P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft had flown through the strait "in international airspace", adding that the flight demonstrated the United States' commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific.
"By operating within the Taiwan Strait in accordance with international law, the United States upholds the navigational rights and freedoms of all nations," it said in a statement.
China's military criticised the flight as "public hype", adding that it monitored the US aircraft throughout its transit and "effectively" responded to the situation.
"The relevant remarks by the US distort legal principles, confuse public opinion and mislead international perceptions," the military's Eastern Theatre Command said in a statement.
"We urge the US side to stop distorting and hyping up and jointly safeguard regional peace and stability."
In April, China's military said it sent fighter jets to monitor and warn a US Navy Poseidon in the Taiwan Strait, a mission that took place just hours after a call between the Chinese and US defence chiefs.
