US is maker of security risks: China
The People's Liberation Army on Wednesday said the United States is a "maker of security risks" in the Taiwan Strait with its frequent provocations there, after a US warship again sailed through the waterway. The US Navy's 7th Fleet said the destroyer USS Benfold conducted a "routine" Taiwan Strait transit through international waters "in accordance with international law". The People's Liberation Army's Eastern Theatre Command said in a statement that its forces had followed the ship throughout and "warned" it. "The frequent provocations and showing off by the United States fully demonstrate that the United States is a destroyer of peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait and a maker of security risks in the Taiwan Strait," it said in a statement. "Theatre forces remain on high alert at all times and resolutely defend national sovereignty and territorial integrity." The US Navy, meanwhile, said the ship "transited through a corridor in the strait that is beyond the territorial sea of any coastal state". "The ship's transit through the Taiwan Strait demonstrates the United States' commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific," it added. (Reuters)