Amid efforts to ease tensions between Beijing and Ottawa, China has strongly reacted to the passage of the Canadian warship HMCS Charlottetown through the Taiwan Strait, accusing Western countries of attempting to undermine China’s security interests. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning made the statement on May 29.
According to Canadian media reports, the Royal Canadian Navy frigate crossed the Taiwan Strait on May 22-23. Canada’s defence authorities described the transit as a “routine operation”. Beijing strongly rejected this position, stating that the Taiwan Strait constitutes China’s internal waters.
Taipei firmly disputes this characterization, stressing that the strait does not fall under China’s sovereignty, as it is an international shipping route where freedom of navigation is guaranteed under international law. Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defence also said it monitored the Canadian vessel’s movement and that the situation remained fully under control.
Just days after the incident, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi paid an official visit to Canada, marking the first visit by a Chinese foreign minister to the country in over a decade.
The move was intended to signal a renewal of bilateral relations, but the naval transit has cast uncertainty over the process. This is especially significant given that weeks earlier, China’s ambassador to Ottawa had warned that military and political contacts related to Taiwan could damage bilateral ties.
In recent years, transits by Western warships through the Taiwan Strait have become systematic. Such operations, regularly conducted by the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and Australia, are viewed by China as a threat to regional stability and are described as “provocations”.
