China Reacts Angrily After First U.S. Transit of Taiwan Strait Under Trump

Less than a month into the new Trump administration the U.S. conducted what it calls a “freedom of navigation” exercise sending two U.S. Navy vessels through the politically sensitive Taiwan Strait. Chinese spokespersons reacted angrily in what they perceived as a show of force and a possible signal of the new Trump administration’s stance toward China.

China continues to aggressively press its reunification claims for the island saying it would only wait so long. Chinese nationalists have controlled the island since 1949 and the declaration of the People’s Republic of China. They reject the demands of the communists saying the island is independent, and its fate is controlled by the people.

The U.S. frequentl…