BEIJING
\nChina said it monitored a Japanese warship\u2019s transit in the Taiwan Strait on Friday, calling the move \u201ca deliberate provocation\u201d as Beijing\u2019s ties with Tokyo remain fraught.
\nJapanese destroyer JS Ikazuchi transited the Taiwan Strait from 4:02 a.m. (2002 GMT) to 5:50 p.m. (0950 GMT), and the Chinese military\u2019s naval and air forces tracked and monitored the vessel throughout the process, a Chinese \u200cmilitary spokesperson said \u200cin a statement.
\nJapan\u2019s Self-Defense Forces \u200cdeclined to comment on a report about the sail. China views democratically-governed Taiwan as its territory despite Taipei\u2019s rejection of the claim, and frequently refers to the issue as a \u201cred line\u201d in its diplomatic relations with other countries. It also claims sovereignty over the strategic Taiwan Strait and has responded \u200caggressively on occasion \u200cto foreign navies sailing there. Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi in \u200cNovember angered Beijing with her remarks that \u200ca hypothetical Chinese attack on Taiwan could trigger a military response from Japan. Bilateral ties have since deteriorated.
\nTakaichi\u2019s \u201cwrong remarks\u201d regarding Taiwan have already severely impacted bilateral relations, \u200cGuo Jiakun, a spokesperson for China\u2019s foreign ministry, said at a press briefing on Friday.
\nJapan\u2019s dispatch of a military vessel into the Taiwan Strait, as \u201ca display of force\u201d and \u201ca deliberate provocation,\u201d marks a \u201cmistake upon mistake\u201d and threatens China\u2019s sovereignty and security, Guo said.
\nChina firmly opposes this and has lodged a strong protest to Japan, he said. The Chinese navy tracked and monitored the transit of an Australian warship through the Taiwan Strait in February, state-backed Chinese media had reported.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
BEIJING China said it monitored a Japanese warship\u2019s transit in the Taiwan Strait on Friday, calling the move \u201ca deliberate provocation\u201d as Beijing\u2019s ties with Tokyo remain fraught. Japanese destroyer JS Ikazuchi transited the Taiwan Strait from 4:02 a.m. (2002 GMT) to 5:50 p.m. (0950 GMT), and the Chinese military\u2019s naval and air forces tracked […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":542433,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-542403","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n