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The Chinese warship intercepted the USS Chung-Hoon and the HMCS Montreal on Saturday as they transited the strait between the self-governed island of Taiwan, which China claims as its own territory, and mainland China. The Chinese vessel overtook the American ship and then veered across its bow at a distance of 150 yards in an "unsafe manner," according to the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command. The U.S. guided-missile destroyer slowed to 10 knots to avoid a collision, the command said in a statement. A Chinese warship came within 150 yards of hitting the USS Chung-Hoon during a joint Canada-U.S. mission sailing through the Taiwan Strait, June 3, 2023. Global News In his first international public address since becoming defense minister in March, Gen. Li Shangfu told the Shangri-La Dialogue that China doesn't have any problems with "innocent passage" but that "we must prevent attempts that try to use those freedom of navigation (patrols), that innocent passage, to exercise hegemony of navigation." U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told the same forum Saturday that Washington would not "flinch in the face of bullying or coercion" from China and would continue regularly sailing through and flying over the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea to emphasize they are international waters, countering Beijing's sweeping territorial claims. The U.S. has said a Chinese J-16 fighter jet late last month " Those and previous incidents have raised concerns of a possible accident occurring tha...

Exclusive China 'more likely' to invade Taiwan - and attack could come in 2027, island's foreign minister Joseph Wu warns Tensions across the Taiwan strait are the highest they have been for many years, with China now flying fighter jets towards the self-governing island's airspace on a daily basis. His words come at a time when tensions across the Taiwan strait are the highest they've been for many years, with China now Mr Wu also said that the current "status quo" arrangement, in which Taiwan is self-governing but does not officially declare independence, "might not last forever", in a rare acknowledgement that the island might one day either be assimilated by China or become an independent country. Taiwan is a democratic, self-governing island that China sees as its own. '2027 is a year we need to watch out,' says Taiwan's Foreign Minister Joseph Wu Despite it having never been controlled by the governing Communist Party, bringing Taiwan under Chinese control has been described by President Xi Jinping as at the "core of China's core interests". Mr Wu acknowledged that "the situation in the last year compared to the two previous years is much worse", but said: "To me, 2027 is the year that we need to watch out for." Read more: "In 2027, Xi Jinping is likely to go into his fourth term, and, if in his previous three terms he cannot claim any achievement during his office, he might need to think about something else for him to claim as his achievement or his legacy. Adverti...

Taiwan navy personnel look on during a drill in January. China has escalated its military exercises near the island, raising tensions and prompting fears of a crisis in the Taiwan Strait. Photograph: Ritchie B Tongo/EPA Taiwan navy personnel look on during a drill in January. China has escalated its military exercises near the island, raising tensions and prompting fears of a crisis in the Taiwan Strait. Photograph: Ritchie B Tongo/EPA Read more China’s military announced joint air and sea drills near Taiwan and test launches of conventional missiles in the sea east of Taiwan. According to Chinese state media, three of the six live-fire drills will overlap with sea Taiwan claims is its territory. Ahead of the exercises, which are due to begin on Thursday, Taiwan said 27 Chinese warplanes had entered its air defence zone. Taiwan has never been part of the People’s Republic of China and says it is already a sovereign nation with no need to declare independence. It wishes to maintain the safety of the status quo and does not want a conflict, but has said it will defend itself. Taiwan’s defence ministry called China’s planned exercises an aerial and maritime blockade of Taiwan. “This is a big deal given a blockade is a legal act of war,” said Indo-Pacific defence policy expert Blake Herzinger. “I think it needs to be signalled to Taiwan that this is not the time to inflame things further.” This week, Taiwan has also been hit by a series of cyber-attacks though it is not yet cl...