On September 25th, the Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force destroyer “Sazanami” crossed the Taiwan Strait. This marked the first time since the end of World War II that a Japanese warship had crossed the Taiwan Strait.
For decades, the United States Pacific Fleet had been the only foreign navy regularly or irregularly crossing the Taiwan Strait. However, in recent years, military vessels from Europe, America, Asia, and Australia have started to participate.
On September 25th, the Royal New Zealand Navy’s “Aotearoa” crossed the Taiwan Strait, marking the first transit by a New Zealand warship in seven years.
Also on September 25th, the Royal Australian Navy’s “Sydney” passed through the Taiwan Strait.
Euan Graham, a senior analyst at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, noted that the Australian Navy had frequently crossed the Taiwan Strait but had chosen not to publicize it.
On September 13th, German warships “Baden-Wurttemberg” (F 222) and “Frankfurt” (A 1412) replenishment ship crossed the Taiwan Strait. This marked the first time a German warship had transited the Taiwan Strait in 22 years.
The last time a German warship transited the Taiwan Strait was in 2002. However, in 2021, the German warship “Bavaria” completed its Indo-Pacific mission, and on its return journey, although passing through the waters near Taiwan, it circumvented the Taiwan Strait and returned to Europe.
On July 31st, the Canadian frigate “Montreal” crossed the Taiwan Strait. This was the fourth deployment of Canadian warships through the Taiwan Strait since the release of their “Indo-Pacific Strategy” in November 2022.
On May 31st, the Dutch frigate “Tromp” departed from the port of Hai Phong in Vietnam, passing through the Taiwan Strait from south to north. In 2021, the Dutch warship “Evertsen” intentionally avoided the Taiwan Strait when passing through the nearby waters of Taiwan.
Earlier this year, the British warship “Spey,” which is currently deployed in the Indo-Pacific region, crossed the Taiwan Strait without public announcement.
On April 9, 2023, the French frigate “Makoto” passed through the Taiwan Strait while the People’s Liberation Army was conducting military exercises to encircle Taiwan.
Why have military vessels from various countries across Europe, America, Asia, and Australia joined the ranks of those transiting the Taiwan Strait in recent years? I believe there are six main reasons:
In 2020, amid the outbreak of the pandemic, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) blatantly violated the Sino-British Joint Declaration by enforcing the “National Security Law” in Hong Kong, prematurely ending the “One Country, Two Systems” principle and replacing it with CCP’s authoritarian rule.
After taking control of capitalist Hong Kong, the CCP immediately identified Taiwan, also practicing capitalism, as a key strategic target.
In 2020, ignoring the global crisis, the CCP held numerous military exercises in the Taiwan Strait, Yellow Sea, Bohai Sea, and South China Sea. The intensity of the military intimidation towards Taiwan escalated significantly, leading The Economist to describe Taiwan as the “most dangerous place in the world” in its May 1, 2021 edition.
According to data from the Taiwan Ministry of National Defense, the frequency of CCP military aircraft harassment towards Taiwan rose from 380 incidents in 2020 to 960 in 2021, 1727 in 2022, and 1709 in 2023.
After U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan in August 2022, CCP military aircraft crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait over 302 times in the same month. Previously, such incidents were rare. Subsequently, occurrences of CCP military aircraft and vessels crossing the Taiwan Strait’s median line became more frequent.
On June 13, 2022, the CCP Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin declared that the CCP has “sovereignty, sovereign rights, and jurisdiction over the Taiwan Strait,” asserting that it is not international waters. This marked a significant divergence from their previous statements.
Traditionally, the U.S. and their allies had exercised “freedom of navigation” in the Taiwan Strait, and they do not recognize the CCP’s claims.
The “Asia Fact-Checking Laboratory” confirmed that the concept of “international waters” is supported by international law, based on the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. The Taiwan Strait is indeed a waterway where ships of all countries have the right to freedom of navigation, as do aircraft in the airspace. The CCP Foreign Ministry’s statements are considered misleading.
In recent years, the CCP has been expanding its military capabilities and conducting escalated military exercises in the Taiwan Strait, repeatedly conducting encirclement exercises from the sea, land, and air, putting increasing pressure on Taiwan and raising tensions in the region.
The Taiwan Strait, located between the Asian continent and the island of Taiwan, lies between the East China Sea and the South China Sea, forming part of the Western Pacific Ocean and spanning approximately 180 kilometers.
The Taiwan Strait is one of the world’s most vital and busiest waterways, connecting China, Japan, Korea, Southeast Asia, India, Australia, as well as the Middle East, Africa, Europe, and the Americas. With a width of about 200 kilometers at its northern mouth, 410 kilometers at its southern mouth, an average width of 180 kilometers, and its narrowest point at approximately 126 kilometers, the waterway, with a depth of up to 70 meters (maximum depth of the seabed), accommodates vessels of all tonnages.
Over 80,000 vessels transit the Taiwan Strait annually in recent years.
The Taiwan Strait serves as Japan’s maritime energy lifeline. Seventy percent of Japan’s required oil passes through the South China Sea, Taiwan Strait, or Bashi Channel, reaching home after passing through the Ryukyu Islands.
According to compiled data by Bloomberg, nearly half of the world’s container ships transited through the Taiwan Strait in 2022. CNN reported that almost 90% of the world’s largest container ships passed through the Taiwan Strait in 2022.
Should the CCP forcibly unify Taiwan and block the Taiwan Strait, it would have significant and far-reaching impacts on international trade and economics.
In the latter half of the 20th century, the Soviet Communist Party posed the greatest threat to the free world led by the United States. Today, in the 21st century, the Chinese Communist Party has become the main threat to the free world led by the United States.
The “First Island Chain” refers to a series of islands extending eastward from the coast of East Asia into the Western Pacific Ocean, beginning from the Japanese archipelago, Ryukyu Islands, through Taiwan, the Philippines, Gugongta Islands, to New Zealand.
The United States constructed the First Island Chain to counter the expansion of the Soviet Communist Party. Today, the main purpose of the First Island Chain is to counter the expansion of the Chinese Communist Party.
Amid the outbreak of the pandemic in 2020, the CCP took advantage of the severe situation in the United States to initiate a new cold war, with three key events: First, from January to February, CCP warships entered the central Pacific at Midway Island for military exercises. Second, in March, the announcement of the completion of the “bastion area” for strategic nuclear submarines in the South China Sea. Third, in June, the declaration of the completion of space warfare deployment against the United States.
In 2024, the CCP confronted the free world led by the United States in hotspots in Europe, the Middle East, and took at least three significant actions: First, on July 17, suspending arms control and nuclear non-proliferation negotiations with the United States; Second, from July 8 to 19, held joint military exercises with Belarus near the doorstep of NATO; Third, during the UN General Assembly meeting on September 25, test-fired an intercontinental ballistic missile, landing near Hawaii in the Southern Pacific Ocean.
Should the CCP occupy Taiwan, breach the First Island Chain, it would directly threaten important U.S. allies on the First Island Chain, such as Japan, the Philippines, South Korea, etc. CCP warships could set sail from Taiwan directly to the U.S. West Coast, and CCP missiles could be launched from Taiwan, directly threatening mainland America.
Should this scenario materialize, the global strategic balance implemented by the United States to counter the expansion of communism post-World War II would be disrupted—a situation the U.S. absolutely cannot allow.
Taiwan is not only strategically vital but also occupies a critical position in the global supply chain of strategic materials.
Earlier this year, former U.S. President Trump, in an interview with Fox News, stated, “If the CCP occupies Taiwan, they might potentially bring the whole world to a standstill.”
Trump specifically mentioned Taiwan’s critically important high-end chip manufacturer, TSMC. He emphasized, “It is the only company in history that, if forced to stop production, could lead to a global economic downturn.”
TSMC is the world’s largest chip foundry company, with a market value exceeding 800 billion USD, ranking among the top ten publicly listed companies globally.
TSMC’s products are widely used in computers, smartphones, data centers, the Internet of Things, automotive electronics, aerospace, deep-sea exploration, cutting-edge weaponry, and nearly all other fields. The company occupies an indispensable leading role in the global chip industry chain.
The United States and other free nations heavily rely on TSMC; its products, technology, talent, services, etc., directly influence the stability and development of the economies, technologies, and security of these nations, and any disruption in its production or supply chain would undoubtedly have significant global impacts.
On August 26, a PRC Y-9 reconnaissance aircraft intruded into Japanese airspace near the Goto Islands in Nagasaki Prefecture, marking the first confirmed violation of Japanese airspace by a PRC military aircraft.
On August 31, a PRC naval research vessel entered Japan’s territorial waters in Kagoshima Prefecture and traversed Japan’s territorial waters for approximately one and a half hours.
According to Japan’s national broadcaster NHK, this incident marked the tenth intrusion by PRC naval research ships into Japan’s territorial waters in the past year. Including submarines and other intelligence-gathering ships, this was the thirteenth such incident.
In the early morning of September 18, the PRC aircraft carrier Liaoning, accompanied by two missile destroyers, sailed between the islands of Yonaguni and Iriomote in Okinawa Prefecture, temporarily entering the outermost waters of Japan’s territorial waters. This was the first time a PRC aircraft carrier had navigated into the waters adjacent to Japan.
The CCP always cites opposition to “Taiwan independence” as an excuse to escalate tensions in the Taiwan Strait. In reality, the CCP doesn’t truly care about national sovereignty, territorial integrity, and security.
The CCP is the world’s largest party willing to sell out its own country. This fact has long been recognized by leaders in the U.S., Europe, Asia, Australia, and many other countries. Issues are just unspoken truths. However, this year, Taiwan’s President Lai Ching-te shattered this glass ceiling.
On September 1st, during a broadcast in Taiwan, President Lai Ching-te stated, “China’s aim to take over Taiwan is not for territorial integrity. If it were, why wouldn’t they reclaim the land signed over in the 1858 Treaty of Aigun with Russia?”
On December 9, 1999, CCP leader Jiang Zemin and Russian President Yeltsin signed the “Description Protocol of the Sino-Russian Boundary Line Sections,” which entirely acknowledged the unequal treaties, including the Treaty of Aigun signed by the corrupt late Qing dynasty under pressure from Tsarist Russia. This resulted in the unconditional transfer of over one million square kilometers of territory in Northeast China to Russia, equivalent to dozens of Taiwans.
Regarding the CCP’s weaknesses, after the outbreak of the pandemic in 2020, the CCP engaged in three years of extreme “zero-COVID” policies that squandered the decades of resources it had accumulated. From 2023 to 2024, the CCP implemented numerous measures that oscillated between extremes, further intensifying economic and social crises, leading to the exodus of foreign investments, soaring debt, business closures, massive unemployment, and growing public discontent, plunging into a significant economic and social crisis.
After the CCP’s 20th National Congress, a major scandal erupted in the CCP Rocket Force, resulting in the disappearance of a batch of high-ranking party, government, and military officials who underwent investigations, further exposing the CCP as the most corrupt party globally.
Despite the CCP’s frequent displays of aggression and saber-rattling, the leaders of the U.S., Europe, Asia, Australia, and other countries who understand the CCP’s vulnerabilities are not afraid of the CCP.
Taiwan is part of the Free World and holds the frontlines in the standoff between the entire Free World and the CCP authoritarian regime. Coupled with Taiwan’s increasing role in crucial industries like chip manufacturing, the recognition of the CCP’s facades and vulnerabilities by leaders in the U.S., Europe, Asia, and Australia is clearer. The more severe the CCP oppresses Taiwan, the greater the international support for Taiwan, reflected in the increasing number of foreign warships transiting the Taiwan Strait.
Ultimately, the CCP has brought this upon itself, wielding the stone that will hurt its foot.
(Note: The news article has been significantly expanded, rewritten, and translated from Chinese into English, focusing on various countries’ naval transits through the Taiwan Strait and the geopolitical implications associated with the actions.)