Chinese Army Calls US Destroyer’s Passage Through Taiwan Strait Hypocritical

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The US guided-missile destroyer USS Ralph Johnson’s passage through the Taiwan Strait is hypocritical and futile, the spokesman for the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA), Senior Colonel Shi Yi, said on Saturday.

"The US guided-missile destroyer USS Ralph Johnson (DDG-114) sailed through the Taiwan Strait on February 26 and hyped it up. The Eastern Theater Command of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) sent its forces to track and monitor the US warship’s passage in the whole course," Shi said in a written statement.

The PLA Eastern Theater Command is always on high alert and ready to resolutely safeguard national sovereignty as well as security, regional peace and stability, according to the spokesman.

"It is hypocritical and futile for the US to conduct this provocative action in an attempt to bolster the 'Taiwan independence' forces by making some gestures," Shi added.

Taiwan has been governed independently from mainland China since 1949. Beijing views the island as its province, while Taiwan - a territory with its own democratically elected government - maintains that it is an autonomous country and has political and economic relations with several other nations. Beijing has consistently claimed the island nation as its own, being the only legitimate political representative of the Chinese people everywhere.