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Japanese Warship JS Sazanami Transits Taiwan Strait Amid Tensions with China, Ordered by PM Kishida

Sep 26, 2024, 02:16 AM

A Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force destroyer, JS Sazanami, passed through the Taiwan Strait for the first time on Wednesday. This maneuver, conducted as part of a 'freedom of navigation' exercise, is seen as a message to China amid rising regional tensions. The passage, ordered by Prime Minister Kishida, coincided with China's test-firing of an intercontinental ballistic missile into the Pacific Ocean. The move comes one month after a Chinese aircraft violated Japanese airspace and a week after a Chinese aircraft carrier sailed between two Japanese islands near Taiwan. The Sazanami spent over 10 hours sailing southward to complete the passage. Additionally, navy vessels from Australia and New Zealand also transited the Taiwan Strait.