US Ships Again Provoke Beijing By Sailing Through Strait Of Taiwan

• US Ships Again Provoke Beijing By Sailing Through Strait Of Taiwan
  by Tyler Durden, https://www.zerohedge.com/
  Beijing is already threatening retaliation over Washington’s expected sale of dozens of F-16s and tanks to Taiwan. But as if ties between the world’s two largest economies hadn’t already been sufficiently strained, the Navy and Coast Guard again provoked the Chinese leadership on Sunday when they sailed two ships – identified as the Navy destroyer Curtis Wilbur and the Coast Guard cutter Bertholf – through the Strait of Taiwan.
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  According to Reuters, the gesture, which is part of a redoubled US effort to flex its muscles near Chinese waters, should be interpreted – like other ‘freedom of navigation’ operations before it – as a sign of support for Taiwan, which is struggling with an increasingly threatening Beijing. The Chinese military has been holding more military drills and missions around the island, as President Xi has made bringing the wayward province back under Beijing’s thumb a top priority for his rule.
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  Sunday’s mission coincided with a trip abroad by Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen, who will stop in Hawaii later this week following a tour of the Pacific. The US was unrepentant about the mission, saying it was intended to demonstrate that the Indo-Pacific remains free and open.
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