China launches naval and air drills as US warship transits Taiwan Strait

PLA’s Eastern Theatre Command slams repeated ‘provocative actions’, as USS Barry marks ninth transit of Taiwan Strait by American warships this year

Taiwan plans to spend US$8.7 billion over the next five years on domestically produced arms, including missiles capable of striking mainland China

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Guided missile destroyer USS Barry on Friday conducts what the US Navy’s Seventh Fleet called a “routine Taiwan Strait transit”. Photo: US Navy/ Handout

Published: 4:42pm, 18 Sep 2021Updated: 9:53pm, 18 Sep 2021

Beijing held a military drill targeting Taiwan and described the United States as the “biggest troublemaker” in the region as a US destroyer sailed through the Taiwan Strait on Friday in the ninth such passage by American warships this year.

The Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer USS Barry conducted a “routine Taiwan Strait transit” on Friday, a statement from the US Navy’s Seventh Fleet said.

“The ship’s transit through the Taiwan Strait demonstrates the US commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific”, it said, adding that the US military “flies, sails, and operates anywhere international law allows”.

In response, the People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theatre Command said it had closely monitored the passage of the USS Barry.

“The US has repeatedly taken provocative actions, which illustrates that the US is the biggest troublemaker for the stability of the Taiwan Strait,” a spokesman for the theatre command said.

“The theatre command remains on high alert and is determined to safeguard national sovereignty, security and regional peace and stability.”

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The theatre command on Friday deployed naval and air forces, including combat ships, early warning aircraft and bombers, to carry out joint patrols and combat drills in the waters and seas to the southwest of Taiwan, the spokesman said in a separate statement.