China Alerts Forces for Passage of U.S. Ships in Taiwan Strait

The Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) was put on alert in order to stop any possible provocation during the passage of two U.S. cruisers through the Taiwan Strait.

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It is the first such military episode since the height of tensions between Beijing and Washington over Nancy Pelosi's visit to Taiwan.

"The U.S. Navy cruisers Chancellorsville and Antietam crossed the Taiwan Strait on Aug. 28, drawing widespread attention. The PLA's Eastern Combat Command escorted the U.S. cruisers and exercised full control over their activities. Command units are on high alert to stop any provocation in a timely manner," said Shi Yi, spokesman for the PLA Eastern Command, in a statement.

In response, eight ships of the Chinese People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN), as well as 23 planes, have been detected near Taiwan, Taipei said on Sunday.

Shortly before, it was reported that US Navy ships were making a crossing through the Taiwan Strait.

In recent years, U.S. warships, and occasionally those of allied nations such as the United Kingdom and Canada, have routinely sailed through the strait, provoking Beijing's discontent.

Official relations between the central government of the People's Republic of China and its island province broke down in 1949, after the defeated Kuomintang forces led by Chiang Kai-shek moved into Taiwan in the civil war with the Communist Party of China.

Trade and informal contacts between the island and mainland China resumed in the late 1980s. Since the early 1990s, the two sides have been in contact through non-governmental organizations.