Beijing monitors Australian frigate Toowoombas passage through Taiwan Strait
The Australian frigate HMAS Toowoomba sailed through the Taiwan Strait on Friday and Saturday, monitored closely by the People’s Liberation Army, which remained on alert throughout the transit, according to a mainland Chinese media report. The Global Times, a nationalist newspaper affiliated with the Communist Party mouthpiece People’s Daily, reported the vessel’s passage on Saturday,…
The Global Times, a nationalist newspaper affiliated with the Communist Party mouthpiece People’s Daily, reported the vessel’s passage on Saturday, citing a Chinese military source.
“[The Toowoomba’s] shipborne helicopter approached the median line of the strait in the afternoon, and the Taiwan military immediately issued a radio warning to drive it away,” the report said.
Reuters on Sunday quoted an unnamed Australian government source as confirming that the warship sailed through the strait on Friday and Saturday.
The transit drew criticism from military enthusiasts on mainland Chinese social media.
A day earlier, the Australian Department of Defence said the Toowoomba, an Anzac-class frigate of the Royal Australian Navy, had “conducted a routine transit through the South China Sea in accordance with international law”.
