French naval vessel passes through sensitive Taiwan Strait

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TAIPEI (Reuters) -A French naval ship passed through the Taiwan Strait, the island’s defence ministry said on Tuesday, in the latest mission through the strategic waterway by a Western country.

The U.S. navy, occasionally accompanied by ships from allied countries, transits the strait around once a month. China, which claims Taiwan as its own territory and which staged war games around the island earlier this month, also says the strait belongs to it.

Taiwan’s defence ministry said the unidentified French vessel entered the strait on Monday night and sailed in a northerly direction.

Taiwan’s military monitored the vessel, the ministry added, noting the situation was “as normal”. It did not elaborate.

The French defence ministry said the ship had been on its way to Japanese waters after a stop in the Philippines in order to start work on a United Nations mission.

There was no immediate response from the Chinese government.

The French navy has previously transited the strait, including last year. Two Germany navy ships sailed through the strait in September.

Taiwan’s Deputy Foreign Minister Francois Wu, who was until August the de facto Taiwanese ambassador in Paris, listed on his Facebook page the European countries whose navies had sailed through the strait, including France, Germany and Britain.

“Taiwan and Europe and the rest of the world are working together to defend the common interests of democracy and peace in the region,” Wu added.

China described its recent war games as a warning to “separatist acts”. The exercises drew condemnation from the Taiwanese and U.S. governments.

Beijing says it alone has jurisdiction over the nearly 180 km (110 miles) wide waterway that is a major passageway for international trade.

The United States and Taiwan, which rejects Beijing’s sovereignty claims, say the Taiwan Strait is an international waterway.

(Reporting by Ben Blanchard; additional reporting by Dominique Vidalon in Paris; Editing by Ed Osmond and Alistair Bell)