US, Canadian navies stage rare joint mission via Taiwan Strait

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TAIPEI: A US and a Canadian warship sailed through the Taiwan Strait on Saturday, the US Navy said. It was a rare joint mission in the sensitive waterway at a time of heightened tensions between Beijing and Washington over Chinese-claimed Taiwan.

The US Navy’s 7th Fleet said the guided-missile destroyer USS Chung-Hoon and Canada’s HMCS Montreal conducted a “routine” transit of the strait “through waters where high-seas freedoms of navigation and overflight apply in accordance with international law”.

“Chung-Hoon and Montreal’s bilateral transit through the Taiwan Strait demonstrates the commitment of the US and our allies and partners to a free and open Indo-Pacific,” it said.