Warships attached to a destroyer flotilla with the navy under the PLA Eastern Theater Command steam in astern formation in waters of the East China Sea during the realistic training on April 23, 2021.Photo:China Military

 

The Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) Eastern Theater Command tracked and monitored a US warship as it sailed through the Taiwan Straits on Tuesday, as the US move sent wrong signals to Taiwan secessionists, the command spokesperson announced on Wednesday.

By sending the guided missile destroyer USS Curtis Wilbur through the Taiwan Straits on Tuesday and hyping the event publicly, the US sent the wrong signals to "Taiwan independence" forces, deliberately disturbed and damaged the regional situation and harmed peace and stability in the Straits, said Senior Colonel Zhang Chunhui, the spokesperson of the PLA Eastern Theater Command, in a statement.

The PLA Eastern Theater Command organized forces, tracked and monitored the US ship through its entire course on high alert so as to deal with any kind of threat and provocation, Zhang said.

Zhang's statement came after the US 7th Fleet claimed on Tuesday that the transit was a "routine" one.

Media on the island of Taiwan said this is the fifth time a US warship has sailed through the Straits under the Biden administration.

"We are resolutely against this," Zhang said.

Global Times