A fighter jet attached to an aviation brigade of the air force under the PLA Western Theater Command takes off to the sky during a round-the-clock training exercise on August 19, 2022. (eng.chinamil.cn/Photo by Yu Zeqi)

 
The Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Eastern Theater Command on Wednesday announced that its troops have monitored US and Canadian warships when they transited the Taiwan Straits on Tuesday.

By ganging up with Canada, the US wants to embolden itself for such operations now that the PLA has the absolute advantage in the region, and such transits are only political shows, analysts said.

The US Navy destroyer USS Higgins and Royal Canadian Navy frigate HMCS Vancouver on Tuesday made a transit through the Taiwan Straits and publicly highlighted the event. The PLA Eastern Theater Command organized naval and air forces to be on high alert and track and monitor the US and Canadian warships throughout their entire course, Senior Colonel Shi Yi, spokesperson of the PLA Eastern Theater Command, said in a statement released on Wednesday.

The troops of the PLA Eastern Theater Command are always on high alert, will resolutely counter any threats and provocations, and will firmly safeguard national sovereignty and territorial integrity, Shi said.

This is the second time the US Navy has made a warship transit in the Taiwan Straits since the PLA’s large-scale military exercises around the island of Taiwan in early August in response to US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s provocative visit on the island. The last time was on August 28, when the US sent two Ticonderoga-class cruisers, which were also monitored by the PLA.

For both time, two warships of the US or led by the US sailed through the Taiwan Straits instead of one warship as is more usual, and this exposed that the US lacked confidence and wanted to boost its own courage, Song Zhongping, a Chinese mainland military expert and TV commentator, told the Global Times on Wednesday.

The US also wanted to show that it was not alone in its attempt to contain China, Song said. Canada, as a core ally of the US, has no choice but to obey under US pressure, he said.

As displayed in its drills around Taiwan island in August, the PLA has overwhelming capabilities in the region, and some warship transits by the US and its allies are only political shows that have no military significance, analysts said.

The US and some of its allies are repeatedly making provocations toward China’s national sovereignty and territorial integrity, making themselves the biggest external threats to peace and stability the region, experts said.