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The White House earlier this month reaffirmed its stance that the Taiwan Strait constitutes "international waters" following the latest US warship sail-through, which had put China's PLA Eastern Theatre Command on high alert. As Reuters reported last Tuesday, "The United States on Tuesday backed Taiwan's assertion that the strait separating the island from China is an international waterway, a further rebuff to Beijing's claim to exercise sovereignty over the strategic passage."This prompted Beijing to issue its own statement and definition, hitting back that the strait is not "international waters" - thus placing limits on the movements of foreign military vessels...

A British warship transited the Taiwan Strait as China continues its military pressure upon Taiwan.The Royal Navy’s HMS Richmond announced on Twitter its latest whereabouts on Sept. 27. “After a busy period working with partners and allies in the East China Sea,” it said, “we are now en route through the Taiwan Strait to visit Vietnam and the Vietnam People’s Navy.”The brief post drew a rebuke from the Chinese military’s Eastern Theater Command the same day.The spokesperson for the command, Shi Yi, criticized the passage on its official WeChat account as a “public hype-up,” saying the UK “just validated its...