Saturday, November 06, 2021

First US-Canadian joint Navy passage through the Taiwan Strait

Good news! Bravo Canada!

"On October 14 and 15, the USS Dewey and Canadian frigate HMCS Winnipeg sailed through the Taiwan Strait in the first joint transit coordinated by the US and Canadian navies. ...
A downturn in bilateral relations since 2018 has caused Ottawa to reassess its ties with Beijing, and has created an opening for steady engagement with Taiwan. Clearly, Canada is emerging as an important regional stakeholder in Indo-Pacific security and as a supporter of Taiwanese efforts to carve out more international space. ...
Prior to the first US-Canadian joint passage through the Taiwan Strait, the Canadian navy had conducted several solo transits through the Strait in recent years. Previously, the Royal Canadian Navy said its passage through the Taiwan Strait in 2019 was not intended to make a political statement ...
The Canadian navy also has been more operationally active in the disputed East and South China Seas. In March of this year, a Canadian warship passed through the South China Sea while traveling from Brunei to Vietnam, and was followed by a Chinese vessel. In 2019, Canadian naval ships transiting through the South China Sea and East China Sea ...
Relations between Canada and China took a sharp downturn following the high-profile arrest of Meng Wanzhou, daughter of Huawei founder and chief executive Ren Zhengfei. Meng, who was accused of bank and wire fraud related to sales of telecommunication equipment to Iran, was detained by Canadian police in December 2018, at the request of the United States. In apparent retaliation for Meng’s arrest, Beijing moved quickly to detain two Canadians dubbed the “two Michaels”: Michael Kovrig, a former diplomat who was working for the International Crisis Group; and Michael Spavor, a businessman who was later convicted by a Chinese court of espionage in August 2021. The “hostage diplomacy” surrounding Meng and the “two Michaels” became the main irritant in Canadian-Chinese relations over the past few years. Although Meng was finally set free by Canadian authorities in September of this year, which led Beijing to soon release Kovrig and Spavor, it may be difficult for bilateral relations to recover and bounce back to a more cordial working relationship in the near term. ..."

Vol. 6, Issue 21 – Global Taiwan Institute

No comments: