A Japanese warship sailed through the Taiwan Strait between Taiwan and the Chinese mainland for the first time, Japanese media have reported.
The Sazanami, a Maritime Self-Defense Force destroyer, passed through the strait from north to south on Wednesday while on its way to participate in multilateral drills in the South China Sea, government sources were quoted as saying.
Navy ships from Australia and New Zealand, which were part of the exercise, transited the waterway with the Japanese vessel.
This comes less than two weeks after Germany sent two warships across the narrow body of water, in what it said was a demonstration of its freedom of navigation – drawing a rebuke from China.
The defence ministries of Japan and Taiwan have not commented on the passage.
Chinese state newspaper Global Times, citing an unnamed source, said the Chinese military “conducted tracking and monitoring throughout [the vessels’] entire course and had the situation under control”.
Both the US and Taiwan say the 180km (112-mile) strait – a key shipping and trade route through which about half of the global container fleet pass – is part of international waters and is open to all naval vessels.
But China, which claims self-ruled Taiwan as part of its territory, claims sovereignty and jurisdiction over the strait.
Bec Strating, an international relations professor at La Trobe University in Australia, said Japan’s reported transit is “part of a broader pattern of greater naval presence by countries in and beyond Asia that are concerned about China’s maritime assertions”.
“Japan in particular has been dealing with China’s ‘grey zone’ tactics in the East China Sea,” she told AFP news agency.
Grey zone warfare tactics are aimed at weakening an adversary over a prolonged period of time, analysts say.
Washington and its allies are crossing the Taiwan Strait more frquently to reinforce its status as an international waterway.
China’s military accused Germany of increasing security risks by sailing though the strait on 13 September, but Berlin said it acted in accordance with international standards. It was the first time in 22 years for a German naval vessel to traverse the strait.
Besides Germany and Japan, Canada, Australia and the UK have also sailed warships through the strait in recent years.
Tokyo has reported an increase in Chinese military activity near Japan and around Taiwan in recent months.
Last week, Beijing sent an aircraft carrier between two Japanese islands near Taiwan for the first time. In August, a Chinese spy plane flew inside Japan’s airspace, prompting Tokyo to condemn the incursion as “utterly unacceptable” and a “serious violation of sovereignty”.
The leaders of the Quad group of nations – Japan, Australia, India and the US – said last week that they would expand cooperation on maritime security to counter China’s increasing assertiveness in the South China Sea.
