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US warship sails through Taiwan amid tensions with China
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IANS | 26 Mar, 2020
An American warship sailed through the Taiwan Strait amid the blame-game
between the US and China over the novel coronavirus that has killed
over 21,000 people worldwide so far.
The Defence Ministry of
Taiwan in a statement on Thursday said the ship sailed north through the
waterway on Wednesday under an "ordinary mission" and was monitored by
Taiwan's armed forces.
A spokesperson for the US Seventh Fleet
Anthony Junco, said the ship was the guided-missile destroyer USS
McCampbell, which conducted "a routine Taiwan Strait transit on March 25
in accordance with the international law".
"The ship's transit
through the Taiwan Strait demonstrates the US commitment to a free and
open Indo-Pacific. The US Navy will continue to fly, sail and operate
anywhere international law allows," he said.
China, the unitary
one-party socialist republic considers the autonomous and democratic
island of Taiwan, its territory which it may bring under its direct
control by force if necessary. The narrow strait that separates Taiwan,
the island with an area of 35,808 square kilometers and around 24
million people, from China is a frequent source of tension.
Well-known
expert on China at JNU, Professor Srikand Kondapalli told IANS that
China had sent its aircraft carrier Liaoning twice last year,
surrounding the island, besides scrambling bombers and fighters and
violating the median line in the cross Straits.
"Traditionally,
after the first Taiwan Straits crisis in 1958, the imaginary median line
was respected by both sides. As China is rising and its ambitions
increasing, it is attempting to overcome the Straits. Secondly, after Xi
Jinping took over in 2012, China's policy changed from peaceful
development of cross Straits relations to immediate reunification with
Taiwan. In 2017, Xi enumerated an extreme policy line of "6 nos" on
Taiwan. The change in China's policy led to its more assertiveness and
following the US Congress-Taiwan Relations Act of 1979, the US as well
has been upgrading its relations with Taiwan and trying to enforce
balance in the Straits," he said.
The pandemic has escalated
tensions between Beijing and Taipei, with the latter accusing the
Chinese Communist Party (CCP) of covering-up the outbreak of novel
coronavirus in the Wuhan city of Hubei province. The US has also blamed
the Xi Jinping for the cover-up.
China called the allegations
"slander" and also took offense to Taiwan's decision to donate 100,000
face masks per week to the US. Beijing said the Taiwan's agreement with
the US was like "confronting the Motherland."
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Customs Exchange Rates |
Currency |
Import |
Export |
US Dollar
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66.20
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64.50 |
UK Pound
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87.50
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84.65 |
Euro
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78.25
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75.65 |
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56.85 |
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