After months of secretive planning, and preparing the crew to defend their ship if necessary, the Royal Canadian Navy has transited the Taiwan Strait.

As HMCS Ottawa entered the busy and strategically critical body of water at sunrise, it was flanked by three Chinese warships armed with missiles and torpedoes. They mirrored Ottawa’s moves for the entire 17-hour crossing.

Canada made the journey along with the USS Ralph Johnson, a U.S. Navy guided missile destroyer, in what both countries describe as a freedom of navigation exercise.

  • AmberPrince@kbin.social
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    35
    ·
    1 year ago

    More like territorial waters is 12 nautical miles for the coast so even if Taiwan was considered part of mainland China, the straight is like 90nm wide so a majority of it should be freely navigable by any ship. China doesn’t think so and claims the entire thing as territorial waters.