China on ‘Alert’ After US, Canadian Ships Cross Taiwan Strait

 China said Thursday its troops were “on constant high alert” after US and Canadian warships passed through the Taiwan Strait, their second joint passage in two months.
The USS Rafael Peralta, an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer, and the Royal Canadian Navy’s Halifax-class frigate HMCS Ottawa conducted a “routine” transit through the strait on Wednesday, the US Navy said.

“Troops in the theater remain on constant high alert, and will resolutely protect national sovereignty and security as well as regional peace and stability,” Senior Col. Shi Yi, a spokesman for China’s Eastern Theatre Command, said in a statement, AFP reported.

Shi slammed the latest transit as a “public hype” and said its naval and air forces had “trailed their entire course.”

The ships’ passage comes after two warships belonging to the US and Canada sailed through the narrow waterway separating the island and mainland China on September 9.