Taiwan Strait is an international waterway, Taipei says, in rebuff to China

claims from China to exercise sovereignty over the strategic passage.

Chin and Russia claim much of the planet belongs to them, and both nuclear powers have shown their respective disregard for anyone who questions them, the two countries are the leaders of the new world order, cheered on by anti-democracy, pro-predatory state capitalism supporters in their home countries and other countries around the world. Their supporters, aping their masters, typically have zero regard for human rights, their supporters are willing to accept their roles as lackeys for their masters, and have zero regard for the environmental health of the globe, they want to keep the fossil economy running as long as they can wanting Russia and China to benefit most financially from it. The ruling class in both China and Russia are even worse than today's ruling class in 'western' nations, Today's Russian and Chinese leadership are more like leaders found centuries ago, they want to return to the ages of royalty and barbarism.

Taiwan is correct in it's assessment. International waters are open to passage by all nations. China has no rights to claim sovereignty to those waters or to Taiwan.

It is well past time for China to realize this is a dead end and put its efforts and focus on something worthwhile like climate protection and reducing the number of coal fired power stations in China.

China should be looking to become a good world citizen that others may wish to emulate. Perhaps if it changes enough the people of Taiwan would see benefit in joining China willingly. Democracy is the way forward for China.

Chinas economy is in a decline, the Zero Covid is not succeeding, Chinese people are not happy about endless lockdowns and by PCR tests every 48 hours, local governments are in debt, the housing market is collapsing, manufacturing has slowed down. CCP got to do something to stir feelings of patriotism! Therefore rhetoric about Taiwan is only going to increase!

So Chinese and Russian warships' passing through the Tsugaru Strait is in full compliance with international law, but US warships passing through the Taiwan Straight is not?

International waters.

International law says that it is an international waterway and the United States Navy will sail anywhere allowed by international law as the Lybians learned the hard way.

This is testing the waters on the part of the PRC. Just keep sailing.

The width of the so-called Taiwan Strait is about the same as the distance from Florida to Cuba. Let's imagine that Chinese Naval Warships begin routine transits through this 'international waterway'. The howls and sabre rattling from Washington would be deafening and Cuba isn't even an historical part of the U.S.. Naked arrogance is, at its heart, hypocrisy.

China and Russia claim much of the planet belongs to them

Really? Show me the transcript.

USA agrees with the one-country policy. Thus the strait is not really international waters. But the Caribbean is and yet USA throws a hissy fit just because Cuba exists.

Chinas economy is in a decline,

If you mean down to 4-5%, then yes, it is a slight decline. Now remind me about the numbers for UK, US and Japan. One of them was negative, if I recall. Another was about 0.1 %.

So Chinese and Russian warships' passing through the Tsugaru Strait is in full compliance with international law, but US warships passing through the Taiwan Straight is not?

International waters.

I don't think China denies that US ships have the right to innocently transit the strait, just as Japan allows warships to transit through Tsuragu. The issue is whether China has any right to prohibit military operations or the transit of nuclear weapons within their Exclusive Economic Zone. The majority of countries say they don't, but an increasing number of coastal states like Brazil, Peru, and around 15 others have also started to assert this more expansive view of sovereignty within their own EEZ.

@William: You are presenting as "fact" the outcome of an event that never happened. It is arrogant.

We stand with free Taiwan, and against China.

yet USA throws a hissy fit just because Cuba exists.

99% of Americans can care less about Cuba and it’s “Communist paradise”

I love it how people always act like “they know” how Americans think when all they do is talk trash about Americans.

Americans also don’t think we own the Caribbean. However we do believe in Freedom of Passage in International Waters.

Gambare Nippon:

We stand with free Taiwan, and against China.

Who is we? You and a few JTers? You should worry more about price hikes in Japan and how Japan could become cannon fodder should USA start a war in East Asia.

The thing is that because the US legally has agreed that China has sovereignty over Taiwan, even though it effectively treats Taiwan as a seperate state, the Taiwanese government statement and support has no legal weight, and instead it gets treated like a waterway between Japan's island's (or the UK's islands, the waterways between Rhode Island and the rest of the US, etc)

99% of Americans can care less about Cuba and it’s “Communist paradise”

Very true. I only care because I have friends from Cuba that the Cuban govt dislikes. I'm amazed at the level of discomfort leaders in Communist/Socialist countries are willing to cause their people just to remain in power. I'm also surprised that normal people in those countries don't rise up and remove those thugs/people from power. It has to happen quickly, before the ruling people can realize it.

Too many people willing to sit on the sidelines and watch, not be part of the action to prevent those govts from getting ingrained in process of the country and brainwashing generations.

That's a swing and a miss for the PRC with basic international law. That's embarrassing to be honest.

Rhode Island isn't actually an island despite the name. Perhaps you meant something else?

The width of the so-called Taiwan Strait is about the same as the distance from Florida to Cuba. Let's imagine that Chinese Naval Warships begin routine transits through this 'international waterway'. The howls and sabre rattling from Washington would be deafening and Cuba isn't even an historical part of the U.S.. Naked arrogance is, at its heart, hypocrisy.

Please cease with the falsehoods. The Soviets had intelligence ships sitting about two dozen miles off major US bases on both coasts sucking up every telephone and radio transmission within the range of their receivers for analysis in Moscow and the US never complained. We knew they were out there and were under orders to never fly over them or harass them in any way. I have seen them myself, a Balsam class AGI sitting just off the coast of San Diego (I would imagine one of the crew secretly listening to a local FM station instead of listening to our boring radio traffic while trying not to be caught by the Zampolit O_o ). International waters are just that and the US adheres to international maritime law. When the Soviets sailed a big battle group right off the beach at Waikiki, just barely outside of the territorial limit and in plain sight of the beach, the US didn't file a diplomatic complaint. They were legally in international waters, nothing the US could do about it.

The thing is that because the US legally has agreed that China has sovereignty over Taiwan, even though it effectively treats Taiwan as a seperate state, the Taiwanese government statement and support has no legal weight, and instead it gets treated like a waterway between Japan's island's (or the UK's islands, the waterways between Rhode Island and the rest of the US, etc)

No, that is not the case. Under international maritime law a nations sovereign territory extends no more than 12 nautical miles from shore. Beyond that 12 nm limit are international waters in which any nation's ships may freely sail. There are cases were territorial waters overlap what are termed "International Straits" where the nations with territorial waters that overlap an "International Strait" are prohibited from asserting territorial sovereignty over that strait and may not prohibit ships from using that strait. Examples are the Straits of Malacca, Straits of Hormuz and the Tsugaru Strait. In the case of the Taiwan Strait, it's width is so great that the 12 nm limits of China and Taiwan leave a good 65-70 nm between territorial limits that are legitimately international waters. Chine has no right under international law to lay claim to them. Even if Taiwan was part of the PRC the Taiwan Strait would remain international waters any nation's ships may legally sail through.

Nations have an Exclusive Economic Zone that extends 200 nm from shore, but that only grants the coastal nation the right to control resource exploitation, fishing, oil and gas drilling, seabed mining, etc, within their EEZ. Outside the 12 nm limit ships are free to sail through a nation's EEZ. That is the current state on international maritime law.

China is trying to assert it has a right to bar military vessels from their EEZ. That is not allowed under international maritime law.

International law says that it is an international waterway and the United States Navy will sail anywhere allowed by international law as the Lybians learned the hard way.

The first two wars the US fought were to protect the right of free passage, in those two instances through the Mediterranean Sea. The Ottomans in Tripoli would demand payment to pass through. Ships that refused to pay the Ottomans "tribute" were seized, their cargos sold and the crews often sold into slavery. It took two military campaigns, the loss of a US Navy frigate, a damaging naval bombardment of Tripoli and a land campaign against Derna to rescue the crew of the lost frigate, but the Ottomans were forced to cease that practice.

Thank you for setting the record straight, Desert Tortoise! It's important to call out misinfo/disinfo when we see it.

@Desert Tortoise

International waters are just that and the US adheres to international maritime law.

I can understand taking issue with China's maritime claims, but it's laughable to say that the US is any better at adhering to international maritime law.

You must know that the US is one of only a handful of countries that refuses to sign the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. That is their choice, but UNCLOS is the sole basis in international maritime law for claiming and enforcing an EEZ against other signatories. Instead of joining UNCLOS, the US just unilaterally claimed it's own 200nm exclusion zone out of international waters, called it an EEZ, and started enforcing it against the world, as if they were an UNCLOS signatory. If any foreign state thinks the US is abusing their EEZ rights or takes issue with US maritime boundaries, can they bring the US to arbitration proceedings in the Hague like the Philippines did to China? No, because the US is not a signatory. The US wants all the benefits of an UNCLOS EEZ without accepting any of the responsibilities. They are definitely up there with the worst actors when it comes to respecting international maritime law.

@Desert Tortoise

And if you're still not convinced, which country regularly violates freedom of navigation on the high seas by seizing tankers and cargos of foreign flagged ships to enforce its own domestic sanctions policy?

Cuba? Cuba protesters jailed for up to 25 years https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-61793239

Thousands of Cubans took part in the demonstrations across the Communist-run island, chanting for "freedom".

The protests, the largest in decades, came amid a severe economic crisis with protesters voicing anger over price increases, and shortages of food and medicine.

If they were violent, then some jail time is warranted, but for non-violent protests, if there is a safety concern, arrest them, the judge should rule a small fine (or community service) and release them. It should do without any need to say it, but nearly all trials should be public with independent reporters and witnesses allowed to see the proceedings and read the trial transcripts.

Closed door trials are bad for public trust.

Prior protester arrests and charges of sedition and theft resulted in 6-30 yrs imprisonment. 30 yrs for theft? Really? I'm a little surprised they didn't just cut off his left hand.

Well...you know how China loves to place huge flotilla of boats in places and refuse to move.

Its only a matter of time before it happens in the Taiwan straight.