BEIJING, June 5 (Reuters) – China’s military said on Friday it dispatched naval and air assets to track and monitor Dutch frigate HNLMS De Ruyter transiting the Taiwan Strait and handled the situation “effectively.”
Beijing last week said the same frigate illegally intruded into the Paracel Islands archipelago in the disputed South China Sea. The Netherlands said at the time the warship was sailing through the South China Sea for diplomatic, security and economic reasons and was operating in accordance with international law.
The People’s Liberation Army Eastern Theater Command (ETC) said the Dutch naval vessel’s passage through Taiwan Strait came after its activities in the Paracel Islands since May 27.
“Forces of the PLA ETC will stay on high alert at all times and resolutely safeguard China’s sovereignty and security, as well as regional peace and stability,” Xu Chenghua, spokesperson of the PLA Eastern Theater Command, said in a Friday statement.
A spokesperson for the Dutch navy could not be immediately reached for comment.
In addition to claiming sovereignty over democratically governed Taiwan, Beijing views the narrow, highly strategic strait as Chinese territorial waters.
(Reporting by Beijing Newsroom; Additional reporting by Stephanie van den Berg in The Hague; Editing by Louise Heavens, Toby Chopra and Tomasz Janowski)
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