Recently Yahoo News on-line reported the following:
U.S. rebuffs China by calling Taiwan Strait an
international waterway
Tue, June 14, 2022, 5:59 PM
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The United States on Tuesday backed
Taiwan's assertion that the strait separating the island from China is an
international waterway, a further rebuff to Beijing's claim to exercise
sovereignty over the strategic passage.
The Taiwan Strait has been a frequent source of military tension since the defeated Republic of China government fled to Taiwan in 1949 after losing a civil war with the communists, who established the People's Republic of China.
In recent years, U.S. warships, and on occasion those from allied nations such as Britain and Canada, have sailed through the strait, drawing Beijing's anger.
On Monday, China's Foreign Ministry said the country "has sovereignty, sovereign rights and jurisdiction over the Taiwan Strait" and called it "a false claim when certain countries call the Taiwan Strait 'international waters'."
Commenting on Tuesday, U.S. State Department spokesman Ned Price said in an email to Reuters: "The Taiwan Strait is an international waterway, meaning that the Taiwan Strait is an area where high seas freedoms, including freedom of navigation and overflight, are guaranteed under international law."
The world has "an abiding interest in peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait, and we consider this central to the security and prosperity of the broader Indo-Pacific region," Price added.
He reiterated U.S. concerns about China's "aggressive rhetoric and coercive activity regarding Taiwan" and said the United States "would continue to fly, sail and operate wherever international law allows, and that includes transiting through the Taiwan Strait."
Earlier on Tuesday, Taiwan Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Joanne Ou called China's position a "fallacy."
On Wednesday, Taiwan Premier Su Tseng-chang said the strait was by "no means China's inland sea".
"China's ambition to swallow up Taiwan has never stopped or been concealed; the Taiwan Strait is a maritime area for free international navigation," he told reporters.
China's Taiwan Affairs Office said the government in Taipei was "cooperating with external forces to hype up the issue".
This "harms the interests of compatriots on both sides of the Taiwan Strait and betrays the interests of the Chinese nation - it is despicable," office spokesman Ma Xiaoguang said in Beijing.
China has never renounced the use of force to bring Taiwan under its control and views the island as an inherent part of Chinese territory.
Taiwan says China has no right to speak for it or claim sovereignty, saying only Taiwan's people can decide their own future and that the People's Republic of China has never controlled any part of the island.
(Reporting by David Brunnstrom, Humeyra Pamuk and Michael Martina; Additional reporting by Ben Blanchard in Taipei and Beijing newsroom; Editing by Lincoln Feast.)
Translation
華盛頓（路透社）- 美國周二支持台灣關於將台灣與中國隔開的海峽是國際水道的說法，這是美國進一步否定對北京聲稱對該戰略通道行使主權。
自 1949 年与共產黨內戰失敗的中華民國政府逃往台灣後, 共產黨建立中華人民共和國，台灣海峽一直是頻密軍事緊張的根源。
近年來，美國軍艦，有時還有來自英國和加拿大等盟國的軍艦，曾駛過海峽，引起了北京的憤怒。
週一，中國外交部表示，中國 “對台灣海峽擁有主權、司法權和管轄權” ， 並稱其 “某些國家稱台灣海峽為 ‘國際水域’ 是一種不正確主張” 。
美國國務院發言人 Ned Price 週二在給路透社的一封電子郵件中發表評論說： “台灣海峽是一條國際水道，這意味著台灣海峽是一個根據國際公約保障包括航行和飛越自由在內的公海自由的區域。”
Price 補充說，世界 “對台灣海峽的和平與穩定有著持久的利益，我們認為這對更廣泛的印太地區的安全與繁榮至關重要” 。
他重申了美國對中國 “在台灣問題上的咄咄逼人的言辭和脅迫活動” 的擔憂，並表示美國 “將繼續在國際法允許的任何地方飛行、航行和行動，包括通過台灣海峽” 。
週二早些時候，台灣外交部發言人 Joanne Ou 稱中國的立場是 “謬論” 。
週三，台灣總理蘇貞昌表示，海峽 “絕不是中國的內海” 。
他告訴記者: “中國吞併台灣的野心從未停止或隱瞞；台灣海峽是國際自由航行的海域” 。
中國台灣事務辦公室表示，台北政府正在 “與外部勢力合作炒作” 。
這辦公室發言人馬曉光在北京說這 “損害了海峽兩岸同胞的利益，背叛了中華民族的利益，這是卑鄙的” 。
中國從未放棄使用武力將台灣置於其控制之下，並將台灣視為中國固有領土的部分。
台灣稱中國無權為其發言或宣稱主權，稱只有台灣人民才能決定自己的未來，及中華人民共和國從未控製過台灣的任何一部分。
It is shocking to know that China's
Foreign Ministry has said that China "has sovereignty, sovereign rights and
jurisdiction over the Taiwan Strait”. I think Japan is also eager to make sure that the
status quo of Taiwan Strait is maintained, and to turn this Strait into China's
inland sea is unthinkable to me.
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