Chinese government claims that "Taiwan Strait is not an international sea area" ... US government warns

It turns out that the Chinese government has repeatedly informed the US government that the Taiwan Strait is not an international body of water. The US government has rejected this claim and is exploring the intentions of the Chinese side. Bloomberg reported.

China reportedly began claiming that "Taiwan is not on international waters" after Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The US government is keen to analyze how China has described the Taiwan Strait in the past. "I think the Chinese side is trying to obscure the interpretation of the Taiwan Strait as legal status and make the Taiwan Strait the (Chinese) inland sea," said one US official.

The U.S. government says the definition of "international waters" on the Chinese side is unclear, but sees the Chinese government's intention to block U.S. ships from passing through the Taiwan Strait.

Since the Chinese government unilaterally established the Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) in the East China Sea in 2013, it has frequently dispatched military aircraft to Taiwan's air defense identification zone. However, at present, it is relatively restraining such provocative behavior at sea.

According to Bloomberg statistics, US ships have been sailing the Taiwan Strait once a month on average since 2020, and have already sailed five times this year. The US government is expected to continue this move and look for the Chinese government.

"It's unlikely that the United States will succumb to China's threat," Bloomberg said.