Australian warship passes through Taiwan Strait: Taipei military

Taiwan's Ministry of National Defence said Friday that an Australian warship sailed through the Taiwan Strait the day before, a sensitive waterway separating the self-ruled island from China.

The ship entered the strait on Thursday and sailed in a southerly direction, the ministry said.

"During the passage through the strait, Taiwan's military monitored the situation of the sea and air space, and the situation was normal," it said.


The strait passage comes after Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese's trip to Beijing earlier this month, which he had hailed as "unquestionably very positive".

But last week, Australia's defence minister said that navy divers from the HMAS Toowoomba were "likely" injured by sonar pulses emitted by a Chinese warship in waters off of Japan.

Albanese also said the Chinese warship had displayed "dangerous... and unprofessional" conduct at sea, which Beijing has dismissed as a "reckless" accusation".