It looks like China and the US are incredibly disappointed with each other right now, and it all started with the balloon incident where Chinese surveillance balloons entered the US airspace and were seen hovering above the military bases in the US. After that, the US President ordered for these balloons to be shot down and the Chinese side said they were not happy with how things have been handled. Ever since then, there has been one provocation or another from both the sides and things haven’t settled since then.
Now, a new development has taken place over the Taiwan Strait, and we can clearly say that the Chinese side is not at all pleased with what happened. It was observed that the US fighter jets made a fly-through over the Taiwan Strait. The reason why China is not happy is because they claim the Taiwan Strait to be its own territory, whereas the US says it falls under international airspace. This is where both the China and the US have had a war of words. China went on to say that the US has “endangered peace” with its actions over the Taiwan Strait. Clearly, Chinese side sees this as an act of provocation, and things could have gone bad very quickly.
In a statement, China said “The U.S. side’s actions deliberately interfered with and disrupted the regional situation and endangered peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait. We firmly oppose this,”. It adds, “Theatre forces remain on high alert at all times and resolutely defend national sovereignty and territorial integrity” while it did mention that the flight’s passage was “as normal”.
On the other hand, the US side is also not ready to back down at all. They say that Taiwan Strait falls under international airspace, and they will continue to fly over it now and in the future as well. In a statement, they said, “By operating within the Taiwan Strait in accordance with international law, the United States upholds the navigational rights and freedoms of all nations. The aircraft’s transit of the Taiwan Strait demonstrates the United States’ commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific”
