Beijing: US Constantly Flexing Muscles by Sending Warships in Taiwan Strait

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The United States is constantly flexing its muscles by sending warships to the Taiwan Strait under the pretext of freedom of navigation, thus deliberately undermining peace and stability in the region, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said on Monday.

On Sunday, US navy ships USS Antietam and USS Chancellorsville passed through the Taiwan Strait, where "high seas freedoms of navigation and overflight apply in accordance with international law," according to the US seventh fleet. In response, China put its armed forces on high alert to prevent any provocations, the People's Liberation Army said.

"US warships frequently flex muscles in the name of exercising freedom of navigation. This is not about keeping the region free and open. This is provocation aimed at 'freedom of trespassing' and it constitutes deliberate sabotage of regional peace and stability," the diplomat said at a press briefing.

Beijing is urging the US to stop violating the One China principle, adhere to the basic norms of international relations and observe provisions of the three joint US-China communiques, Zhao added.

The situation around Taiwan escalated after US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited the island in early August. China condemned Pelosi's trip, which it regarded as a gesture of support for separatism, and launched large-scale military exercises in the vicinity of the island.

China considers Taiwan an unalienable part of its sovereign territory and opposes any official contacts between the island and other countries. The US has been supporting pro-independence forces in Taiwan and selling weapons to the island. Beijing has repeatedly said that the One China principle is a political foundation of China-US relations and that violations by Washington of its own obligations have been jeopardizing cooperation between the two countries, threatening peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait.