US asks China to desist from making claims over Taiwan Strait

Washington: The United States decried China's effort to establish sovereign power over the Taiwan Strait. This passage that divides mainland China from Taiwan is an international waterway, said the US on Tuesday.

Disputes on the strait have always triggered friction between China and Taiwan, ever since the defeated Republic of China government fled to Taiwan after losing the civil war with the communists in 1949.

The Beijing government on Monday disagreed with considering the strait as an 'International waterway' and claimed that China has sovereign power over the Taiwan Strait.

However, the US on Tuesday rebuffed the statement saying, "The Taiwan Strait is an international waterway, meaning that the Taiwan Strait is an area where high seas freedoms, including freedom of navigation and overflight, are guaranteed under international law."

The world expects a long-lasting peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait and thus aims to build good relations in the Indo-Pacific region, said the US to the mail sent to Reuters.

Taiwan has also disregarded the comments claiming China's sovereignty of the passage by calling it a fallacy.' Joanne Ou, spokeswoman of the Taiwan Foreign Ministry, said that China has no right to control any part of the island and has no authority in making such claims on the Taiwan Strait.

The United States will continue to fly, sail and operate wherever international law allows, said the department spokesperson Ned Price.