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China calls on US to stop provocations under pretext of freedom of navigation

As reported by Reuters on August 27, two US Navy ships sailed through the Taiwan Strait last week

BEIJING, August 29. /TASS/. The Chinese government calls on the US Navy to stop carrying out provocations and a show of force under the pretext of freedom of navigation, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said at a briefing on Monday.

"US Navy ships under the flag of freedom of navigation are carrying out demonstrations of force. This is not a commitment to freedom of navigation, but a provocation against it causing deliberate harm to peace and stability in the region," he said, commenting on the passage of US Navy ships through the Taiwan Strait.

"The Chinese side once again calls on the United States to stop diluting and perverting the one-China principle, and strictly respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of other countries and the basic international norms on non-interference in the internal affairs of states, while truly implementing the provisions of the three Sino-US joint communiques," the diplomat concluded.

As reported by Reuters on August 27, two US Navy ships - the missile cruisers Antietam Ticonderoga and Chancellorsville - sailed through the Taiwan Strait last week. The United States conducted such maneuvers in the region for the first time since US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's visit to Taipei, which sparked mounting tensions between Washington and Beijing.

Taiwan has been governed by its own administration since 1949, when the remnants of the Kuomintang forces led by Chiang Kai-shek (1887-1975) fled there after their defeat in the Chinese Civil War. Since then, Taipei has retained the flag and some other attributes of the former Republic of China which existed on the mainland before the Communists came to power. Official Beijing considers Taiwan one of the provinces of the People’s Republic of China, and this position is backed by numerous countries, including Russia.