Tensions Are Rising on the World’s Seas

Trouble is brewing on the world’s high seas. It seems as if global tensions are on the rise. The world’s former superpowers, Britain and Russia, are going head to head in the Black Sea, while the Americans defy the Chinese in the South Pacific.

An American Destroyer Tempts the Chinese Over Taiwan

A United States destroyer has gone through the strait that divides Taiwan and China again for the second time in a week; this comes a week after Taiwan recorded the largest incursion of Chinese Air Force fighters into Taiwan’s air defense zone to history.

The USS Curtis Wilbur, an Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer, made a normal Taiwan Strait passage earlier this week in compliance with international shipping law, according to the American Navy’s 7th Fleet.

The vessel’s passage via the Taiwan Strait exemplifies the United States’ dedication to free travel and international law.

On Wednesday, China’s authorities denounced the US as the continent’s leading source of security threats. The Chinese Army said that its soldiers observed and warned the vessel during its journey.

The warship traveled North via the channel, according to Taiwan’s Ministry of Defense. One month earlier, the very same ship crossed the strait, causing China’s authorities to charge the US of endangering peace and security.

This latest operation comes just a week after Taiwan announced that 28 Chinese Air Force jets, comprising warplanes and nuclear bombers, infiltrated Taiwan’s missile defense identifying zone, marking the greatest documented invasion to date.

The incident occurred after the leaders of the Group of Seven (G-7) issued a joint statement, chastising China’s dictatorship on a number of problems and emphasizing the need for peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait. Every month or so, the US Navy conducts such operations in the Taiwan Strait.

Although the US, as with most countries, has no formal diplomatic relations with independent Democratic Taiwan, it is the most significant global sponsor and a major arms vendor.

Taiwanese-Beijing military tensions have risen in recent months, with Taipei accusing Beijing of routinely pushing its air force into Taiwan’s missile defense zone.

Russia Plays Cat and Mouse with the Royal Navy

According to the Russian Defense Ministry, a Russian vessel fired warning shots on Wednesday to push a British destroyer out of Russian waters near Crimea in the Black Sea.

A Russian vessel fired warning shots after the British missile destroyer defender disobeyed a warning against entering Russian national seas, according to the military. A Russian bomber reportedly dropped explosives forward of the British ship to encourage it to reverse course, according to the report.

In 2014, Russia annexed Ukraine’s the Crimean Peninsula, an action that was mostly ignored by the rest of the world.

Despite the fact that NATO countries Turkey, Greece,  Romania, and Bulgaria are all on the Black Sea, Russia has regularly chafed at NATO naval visits to the Black Sea, characterizing them as disruptive.

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