The Taiwan Strait is a key route of trade and is as important as the Malacca Strait, between the Malay Peninsula and the Indonesian island of Sumatra, for the free flow of commerce in the Indo-Pacific, a key member of the Senate Armed Services Committee said on Tuesday.
Sen. Tammy Duckworth, (D-Ill.) said Indo-Pacific nations view the U.S. Navy’s strait transits through the Taiwan Strait and through disputed territory in the South China Sea as welcomed.
“Just being a presence in the region is needed” when the Chinese are using its fishing fleet to assert extra-territorial claims, she said.
— Read on news.usni.org/2021/08/10/duckworth-calls-for-closer-ties-to-taiwan-more-u-s-vaccine-diplomacy