By Focus and AFP | 2025-02-17

TAIPEI -- Taiwan said it detected 24 Chinese military aircraft near the island on February 16 as a Canadian warship passed through the Taiwan Strait.

It was the first Canadian naval vessel to transit the waterway this year, Taiwan's Foreign Ministry said, and came days after two US ships made the passage.

The United States and its allies regularly pass through the 180km-wide Taiwan Strait to reinforce its status as an international waterway.

Beijing has never ruled Taiwan, but it claims the democratic island as part of its territory and has threatened to bring it under its control by force.

"The Royal Canadian Navy's Halifax-class frigate HMCS Ottawa sailed through the Taiwan Strait on February 16," the foreign ministry said in a statement.

"Canada has once again taken concrete action to uphold the Taiwan Strait's freedom, peace and openness, demonstrating its firm stance that the strait is international waters," it added.

Taiwan's Defense Ministry said that 24 Chinese aircraft, including fighter jets and drones, were detected carrying "joint combat readiness patrols" with military vessels around the island.

During the Canadian warship's passage, China's military radioed the ship and warned it to change course, Taiwanese media reported.

A US destroyer and an ocean survey ship travelled through the strait starting on February 10, drawing criticism from China's military.

'Freedom of navigation'

Data published by the Defense Ministry showed 62 Chinese military aircraft were detected near the island in the 48 hours to 6am local time on February 12, coinciding with the US ships' transit.

The USS Ralph Johnson made the strait transit with survey ship USNS Bowditch, the US Navy said.

"Ships transit between the East China Sea and the South China Sea via the Taiwan Strait and have done so for many years," the navy said on February 12 in a statement on its website.

"The transit occurred through a corridor in the Taiwan Strait that is beyond any coastal state's territorial seas. Within this corridor all nations enjoy high-seas freedom of navigation, overflight and other internationally lawful uses of the sea related to these freedoms."