MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Tensions heat up in Indo-Pacific after US Navy sends cruisers

India has joined the multilateral diplomatic conflict

China has said the United States was trying to disrupt peace in the Taiwan Strait after two warships sailed through the waters between the mainland and what Beijing regards as a rogue province in what Washington dubbed a routine drill.

After this event during the weekend, Chinese troops have been reportedly placed under high alert and mobilized in another episode following the visit of US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi to Taipei, which was the first of a series of controversial presences in the island.

“Troops remain on high alert and are ready at any time to thwart any provocation,” warned Chinese Army Eastern Command spokesman Shi Yie, criticizing the US for “publicizing” its operation.

In announcing the passage of the USS Antietam and USS Chancellorsville, the US Navy explained the crossing demonstrated Washington's commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific area. According to US National

Security Council Spokesman John Kirby, the move was s “in line with our 'One-China' policy.”

The US opening trade talks with Taipei, the world's largest semiconductor manufacturer, also fueled controversies Chinese President Xi Jinping has dubbed as unacceptable.

Xi and US President Joseph Biden are to meet face to face at the upcoming G20 Summit in Indonesia, where Russian President Vladimir Putin is also due.

Meanwhile, India has joined the multilateral diplomatic conflict by criticizing China for “militarizing“ the Taiwan Strait after a Chinese warship docked in Sri Lanka. Earlier this month, China's Yuan Wang 5 armed with rocket and intercontinental ballistic missile launching capabilities was spotted by Indian radars. Her docking was delayed for several days after India's objections amid fears that Beijing intended to use the Sri Lankan port as a military base. The Yuan Wang 5 left a week ago, but over the weekend China’s embassy in Sri Lanka accused India of using security concerns to conduct “de facto thorough interference in Sri Lanka’s sovereignty and independence”.

Friction between the United States and China also includes the Ukraine crisis, in addition to Beijing's zero-COVID policies on the global economy, which has led prices to skyrocket after merchant ships became unavailable worldwide.

The two Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruisers sailed through a corridor in the strait between Taiwan and China that is beyond the territorial sea of any nation, the US 7th Fleet said in a news release.

”The Chinese People's Liberation Army Eastern Theater followed the whole process of the crossing operation of the US ships,” said Chinese Col. Shi Yi on Weibo.

Two weeks after Pelosi's visit, Sen. Ed Markey, a Democrat from Massachusetts, led a bipartisan congressional delegation to Taiwan.