US patrol aircraft crosses Taiwan strait to how commitment to free Indo-Pacific

Taipei: A US Navy’s P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol and reconnaissance aircraft crossed the Taiwan Strait to demonstrate the United States’ commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific region, the navy said on Thursday.
“A U.S. Navy P-8A Poseidon transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace on July 13… The aircraft’s transit of the Taiwan Strait demonstrates the United States’ commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific,” the statement said.
In February, the Taiwanese Defense Ministry said that a P-8A Poseidon aircraft flew over the Taiwan Strait at 07:50 GMT. Back then, a spokesperson for the Eastern Theater Command of the Chinese army, Shi Yi, said, that the flight of the US P-8A Poseidon over the Taiwan Strait had undermined the situation and stability in the region.
The latest escalation around Taiwan took place in April after Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen met with US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy in the United States. Beijing responded by launching massive three-day military drills near the island in what it called a warning to Taiwanese separatists and foreign powers.
Taiwan has been governed independently from mainland China since 1949. Beijing regards the island as its province, while Taiwan maintains that it is an autonomous entity but stops short of declaring independence. Beijing opposes any official foreign contacts with Taipei and regards Chinese sovereignty over the island as indisputable.
UNI/SPUTNIK