TOKYO – A Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force destroyer sailed through the Taiwan Strait on Friday, diplomatic sources said, drawing a strong protest from China.
It is the first such passage since Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi took office last October and could further strain ties between the two Asian neighbors, which have soured since her remarks in November about a Taiwan contingency.
The United States regularly sends warships through the Taiwan Strait to assert freedom of navigation in international waters. While Japan has not officially announced the passage, it appears to have been carried out on the belief that the country should take more resolute actions to counter China’s growing assertiveness.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun criticized Japan at a press conference, saying it had deliberately sought to provoke China by dispatching the vessel, and that the status of Taiwan, a self-ruled island claimed by Beijing, is a “red line that must not be crossed.”
According to Japanese and Chinese diplomatic sources, the Chinese government summoned Japanese officials to protest the vessel’s passage.
Japan had long refrained from sending MSDF vessels through the strait to avoid provoking Beijing, until September 2024 when the destroyer Sazanami became the first to do so. Two MSDF ships subsequently passed through the strait in February and June 2025.
The Self-Defense Forces Joint Staff has said the vessel is scheduled to take part in Balikatan, an annual large-scale Philippine-U.S. joint military exercise in the Philippines, from Monday through May 8.
Japan-China relations have been worsening since Takaichi’s parliamentary remarks last November suggesting a Chinese attack on Taiwan could constitute a survival-threatening situation for Japan and prompt a response by the country’s SDF.
BY: The Times Union – KYODO
