Report: Canadian Warship Transits Taiwan Strait

Taiwan News has reported that the Royal Canadian Navy frigate HMCS Regina (FFH 334) transited the Taiwan Strait on June 18. 

Vessel tracking data indicates the vessel sailed from the South China Sea, through the Strait, to the East China Sea.

The transit comes at a time of friction between Canada and China. Last year, Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou was arrested in Vancouver by Canadian authorities at the request of the U.S. Department of Justice. She is alleged to have been involved in providing false assurances that Huawei was not evading the Iran sanctions. China subsequently detained Canadian businessmen Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor alleging they had stolen trade secrets. 

China has refused attempts by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to intervene and, this week, has blocked imports from a third Canadian company after a shipment of pork was found to contain the banned feed additive ractopamine. China has also blocked imports of Canadian canola.

According to a poll conducted earlier this month by Ipsos and shared exclusively with Global News, 39 percent of Canadians believe the human rights record of a country matters more in deciding whether to pursue relations with that country than whether it can offer economic benefits to Canada.

U.S. warships have sailed through the Taiwan Strait at least once a month since the start of the year. Most recently, the U.S. Navy sailed ships through the Strait in May as a commitment to “a free and open Indo-Pacific,” angering China.