MOSCOW, April 27. /TASS/. By staging provocations in the Taiwan Strait area Washington commits acts of brinkmanship, Russia’s ambassador to China, Andrey Denisov, said on the Rossiya-24 round-the-clock TV news channel after a US destroyer sailed through the Taiwan Strait.
"It was not some material, tangible military threat, but rather a demonstration of intent, a negative signal sent to China. Yet, it was an act of brinkmanship in a sense," he said.
"It might be likened to ‘poking a bear’, but in this particular case it would be more appropriate to compare the incident with someone trying to ‘stroke a tiger’s whiskers’," Denisov said.
He recalled that Beijing had lodged a protest with Washington in this connection.
"Of course, such incidents are intolerable. China will not leave them unnoticed. All this by no means improves the situation in one of the world’s potentially conflict-prone areas," Denisov said.
Earlier, the command of the United States’ 7th Fleet said that the destroyer USS Simpson on Tuesday sailed through the Taiwan Strait. The 7th Fleet said all of the ship’s maneuvers were in conformity with international law.