China criticises Canadian, Australian warships transiting Taiwan Strait

BEIJING (Reuters) -China's military on Saturday said its forces had followed and warned a Canadian and an Australian warship, which were sailing through the sensitive Taiwan Strait, in a move it criticised as a provocation.

The People's Liberation Army's Eastern Theatre Command said the Canadian frigate Ville de Quebec and the Australian guided-missile destroyer Brisbane were engaged in "trouble-making and provocation".

"The actions of the Canadians and Australians send the wrong signals and increase security risks," it said.

An Australia Defence Department spokesperson said on Sunday that the Royal Australian Navy Hobart Class destroyer HMAS Brisbane conducted a routine transit through the Taiwan Strait from September 6 to 7 "in accordance with international law."

"The transit was conducted along with Royal Canadian Navy frigate HMCS Ville de Québec," the spokesperson said in a statement.

"Australian vessels and aircraft will continue to exercise freedom of navigation and uphold International Law, particularly United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea," the spokesperson added.

A spokesperson for the Canadian armed forces said they do not comment on sail plans for currently deployed ships.

The spokesperson added the Ville de Quebec is deployed as part of Operation Horizon, meant to promote peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region.

Ville de Quebec was operating in the Philippine economic zone earlier this week, participating in freedom of navigation exercises, according to a Canadian government statement.

Taiwan's defence ministry said in a statement that it keeps a close watch on activity in the strait and "dispatches appropriate air and naval forces to ensure the security and stability" of the waterway, which separates Communist China from the democratic island of Taiwan.

The U.S. Navy and, on occasion, ships from allied countries including Canada, Britain and France transit the strait, which they consider an international waterway, around once a month. Taiwan also considers it an international waterway.

China, which views Taiwan as its own territory, says the strategic waterway is part of its territorial waters. Taiwan's government rejects Beijing's territorial claims.

China has over the past five years increased its military pressure on the island, including staging war games nearby.

(Reporting by Ryan Woo; Additional reporting by James Pomfret in Hong Kong, Ben Blanchard in Taipei, Anna Mehler Paperny in Toronto and Sam McKeith in Sydney; Editing by Tom Hogue, Sharon Singleton, Edmund Klamann and Christian Schmollinger)