US Navy aircraft transits Taiwan Strait before planned Xi-Trump meeting

A US Navy P-8A Poseidon aircraft transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace on ​Friday, in a move the US 7th Fleet said "demonstrates ‌the United States' commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific".

The Chinese military tracked and monitored the patrol and reconnaissance aircraft throughout the transit, the ​state-backed Global Times newspaper reported, citing a military source, saying ​the "situation was under control".

US military ships or aircraft every ⁠few months pass through or above the waterway that separates ​democratically governed Taiwan from China — missions that anger Beijing.

Chinese President ​Xi Jinping is expected to visit the United States next month to meet President Donald Trump as Washington and Beijing look to stabilise ties marred by issues ​including Taiwan, trade disputes and technology curbs.

"By operating within the ​Taiwan Strait in accordance with international law, the United States upholds the navigational ‌rights ⁠and freedoms of all nations," the 7th Fleet said in a statement.

"The aircraft's transit of the Taiwan Strait demonstrates the United States' commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific. The United States ​military flies, sails, ​and operates ⁠anywhere international law allows."

China claims democratically governed Taiwan as its own territory and says it has ​jurisdiction over the strait. Taiwan and the US ​say the ⁠strait is an international waterway.

Beijing has repeatedly said the Taiwan issue is its internal affair and at the core of Beijing's interests — ⁠a ​red line that must not be ​crossed or trampled on.

Taiwan's government rejects China's sovereignty claims, saying that only Taiwan's people ​can decide their future.