The Taipei 101 skyscraper commands the urban landscape in Taipei, Taiwan. [Photo/Xinhua]
One week after the People's Liberation Army concluded its large-scale military drills around Taiwan island in response to the "new separatism" the regional leader Lai Ching-te peddled in his speech in Taipei on Oct 10, the US destroyer USS Higgins and Canadian frigate HMCS Vancouver passed through the Taiwan Strait.
The PLA Eastern Theater Command monitored the vessels throughout the transit, handling the situation according to laws and regulations, the PLA said in a statement.
The ships' transit through the Taiwan Strait "demonstrated the United States' and Canada's commitment to upholding freedom of navigation for all nations as a principle", the US Navy's 7th Fleet said in a statement.
But that is just candy to sweeten the aggressive nature of such naval operations. Naval vessels of the United States and its allies regularly transit the 180-kilometer strait separating Taiwan and the Chinese mainland supposedly to reinforce the Strait's status as an international waterway, under the excuse of "upholding freedom of navigation". But in reality, such transits are Washington playing the "Taiwan card".
Although the "interactions" between Beijing and Washington and its allies in the busy waterway seem to be in a controllable state, the rising frequency of such "freedom of navigation" operations shows the US is merely paying lip service to its professed desire for stability.
This is further evidenced by the US' arms sales to the island in violation of its solemn promise to Beijing that the US does not support "Taiwan independence".
These reckless moves of the US side have not only caused unnecessary friction with Beijing, they have also seriously undermined the efforts of Beijing to realize the island's peaceful reunification with the motherland.
The US and Canadian battleships' transit through the waters happened shortly after Lai poured separatist wine from a bottle seemingly labeled pro-peace, pro-development and pro-democracy. Ironically, Washington urged Beijing to practice restraint immediately after Lai's perfidious performance.
To Lai and his US patrons, peace is a veneer covering the nature of the former's pro-independence stance, development is a means to realize his secessionist cause, and democracy is a pretext to justify their collusion.
The US is not trying to maintain the status quo across the Strait or protect "democracy". Instead, it is preparing to initiate a war in the Asia-Pacific to fish for its own narrow gains, just as it has done in Europe and the Middle East.
The Taiwan question is China's internal affair and core interest. It brooks no interference or meddling by any external forces. The PLA will take all necessary means to resolutely safeguard the country's sovereignty and territorial integrity, as well as regional peace and stability.
