Zone sensible
The Taiwan Strait is an eminently sensitive area, Beijing considering the island, democratic and autonomous, as part of its territory and having expressed its desire to seize it one day, by force if necessary. Warship movements in the 180 km wide Taiwan Strait are not uncommon. The Shandong previously sailed through the strait in December 2020, the day after a US warship passed. The same aircraft carrier crossed the strait in December 2019, a few weeks before an election in Taiwan.
United States support
The United States, Taiwan’s main ally, considers the strait an international maritime zone and has sent warships to the area to carry out operations in defense of “freedom of navigation”. Under the Biden administration, Washington has lent its support to Taipei, approving at least two arms deals to the island to bolster its air and missile defense systems to respond to warplane incursions. Chinese. Beijing considers that this support “seriously compromises” relations between the United States and China.
The announcement by the Taiwanese Ministry of Defense came before the conversation between the American and Chinese heads of state which was to focus in particular on the invasion of Ukraine by Russian forces and the relations that Beijing has with Moscow in this context. .