On April 17, the Japanese destroyer JS Ikazuchi transited the Taiwan Strait, the fourth such transit by a Japanese warship since September 2024, and the first since Prime Minister Takaichi Sanae took office.
The date compounded Beijing’s reaction. April 17 is the anniversary of the 1895 Treaty of Shimonoseki, under which Japan forced China to cede Taiwan, and the PLA Daily accused Tokyo of “harming the feelings of the Chinese people” by choosing that date. Beijing, which claims the strait is Chinese internal waters rather than an international waterway, responded with a coordinated two-pronged naval operation that analysts say goes well beyond a reaction to a single provocation.
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