US Navy Surveillance Aircraft Transits Taiwan Strait, Tailed by China’s Warplanes

A U.S. Navy aircrew member does a pre-flight walkaround for the P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol and reconnaissance aircraft during the US and Association of Southeast Asian Nations maritime exercise in the Gulf of Thailand on Sept. 5, 2019. Mladen Antonov/AFP via Getty Images

A U.S. surveillance aircraft flew through the Taiwan Strait on Sept. 17 as part of what the Seventh Fleet stated were protected freedom of navigation exercises, drawing Beijing’s ire.

The P-8A Poseidon, outfitted with radars and sensors, “transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace” on Sept. 17, the Seventh Fleet said in a Sept. 17 statement.

“By operating within the Taiwan Strait in accordance with international law, the United States upholds the navigational rights and freedoms of all nations,” the statement reads.

The 100-mile-wide waterway separates communist China from the democratic-governed Taiwan. Despite that the strait is recognized as international waters, the Chinese regime asserts that it falls under its jurisdiction and views any passage by foreign powers as a challenge to its sovereignty.

“The aircraft’s transit of the Taiwan Strait demonstrates the United States’ commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific,” the fleet stated.

The Chinese military sent fighter jets to follow the U.S. patrol aircraft, the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) said in a statement on Sept. 17.

“Theater troops are on high alert at all times,“ Adm. Li Xi, spokesperson for the PLA’s Eastern Theater Command, said in the statement, vowing to ”resolutely defend national sovereignty and security.”

The Chinese Communist Party (CCP), which has never ruled Taiwan, considers the self-governed island a renegade province and has never ruled out the possibility of using military force to control it.

In an effort to wear down Taiwan’s defenses and intimidate its government, which has pledged to defend its democracy, the CCP has routinely deployed warplanes and ships in the strait and other areas close to Taiwan.

On Sept. 17, eight Chinese military aircraft, seven navy vessels, and two coastguard ships were detected in areas surrounding Taiwan, according to the Ministry of National Defense in Taipei.

The heightened tensions across the major trade corridor, through which almost 50 percent of the world’s container fleet passes every year, has sparked concerns among the world’s major economies.

Defying Beijing’s pressure, Germany sent warships through the Taiwan Strait for the first time in more than two decades. On Sept. 13, German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius confirmed that the two navy ships had passed through the strait.

“We firmly oppose provocations and endangerment of China’s sovereignty and security in the name of freedom of navigation,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said during a regular briefing in Beijing before the passage was confirmed.

In response, a German Foreign Ministry spokesperson defended the decision and said Berlin was not required to notify any nations.

“Under international maritime law, it is quite normal that no notification is required in international waters and that you can navigate through these freely,” the spokesperson said at a regular briefing on Sept. 13.

The United States also frequently conducts what they call “routine transit“ through a corridor of the strait beyond the territorial sea of any state. The most recent publicized voyage was on Aug. 22, when a guided-missile destroyer, the USS Ralph Johnson, passed through the strait.

An outdoor screen shows news coverage of China's military drills around Taiwan in Beijing on May 23, 2024. Jade Gao/AFP via Getty Images

The U.S. transit came a day after Secretary of the Air Force Frank Kendall sounded the alarm about the CCP’s growing military ambitions in the Indo-Pacific.

“[The CCP] continues to invest heavily in capabilities, organizations, and operational concepts designed specifically to defeat the ability of the United States and its allies to project power in the Western Pacific,” Kendall said during a speech to the Air & Space Forces Association convention in Washington.

He said he observed a growing unease regarding Beijing’s capabilities and intentions during his visits to the Indo-Pacific region over the past 15 years. He said the Chinese wargames near Taiwan have become more advanced.

“I am not saying war in the Pacific is imminent or inevitable. It is not,” Kendall said. “But I am saying that the likelihood is increasing and will continue to do so.”

The Chinese military has ramped up activities around Taiwan in recent years. During a May drill, China dispatched 111 military aircraft and 46 naval vessels to the air and water around Taiwan, according to the Taiwanese Defense Ministry.

The PLA cast the two-day drills as a “strong punishment” for “independence forces” and a test of its capability to “seize power” in Taiwan, drawing condemnation from Washington and its allies.

Kendall said the threats from the CCP or the PLA are “serious.”

“China is not a future threat. China is a threat today,” he said.