China Protests That Its Reconnaissance Plane Flying Over Taiwan Strait, United States: Commitment To A Free And Open Indo-Pacific

Jet tempur F-16 Taiwan membayangi pesawat pembom H-6 China di zona pertahanan udara. (Wikimedia Commons/Military News Service)

JAKARTA - The United States military announced that the flight of their Navy aircraft in the Taiwan Strait demonstrated its commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific, after China complained it jeopardized peace and stability.

China said it had sent aircraft to monitor and warn the P-8A anti-submarine aircraft, as it flew over the sensitive waterway on Friday last week.

"U.S. Navy ships and aircraft routinely interact with foreign warships and aircraft as they operate throughout the region," United States Indo-Pacific Command said in a statement.

"All interactions with foreign military forces during transit are consistent with international norms and have no impact on operations," the statement continued.

"The United States will continue to fly, sail and operate wherever international law allows, including within the Taiwan Strait. The transit of aircraft in the Taiwan Strait demonstrates the United States' commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific," the statement said.

The flight came after Taiwan deployed warplanes twice last week, to warn of two large-scale attacks by the Chinese Air Force on Taiwan's air defense zones.

The Taiwan Strait has experienced frequent military tensions since the government of the Republic of China fled to Taiwan in 1949, after losing a civil war with the communists who founded the People's Republic of China.

This month, China said it "has sovereignty, sovereign rights and jurisdiction over the Taiwan Strait". Instead, they called false claims related to statements by certain countries that said the Taiwan Strait was international waters.

Meanwhile, the United States and Taiwan reject the claim, reaffirming their assessment of the area as international waters.

In recent years, US warships and occasionally ships from allied nations such as Britain and Canada have sailed through the strait, sparking the ire of China.