Latest Think Tank Report: Last Year, Naval Crossings of the Taiwan Strait by Foreign Countries such as Australia and Canada Significantly Increased

[Global Times - Global Network Report by Reporter Guo Yuandan] On the 26th, the latest report released by the think tank "South China Sea Strategic Situation Awareness Program" shows that starting from 2024, the number of crossings of the Taiwan Strait by other extraterritorial countries has significantly increased.

On the same day, the "South China Sea Strategic Situation Awareness Program" released the "2025 Military Activities Report of Extraterritorial Countries such as the UK, France, Canada, and Australia in the Western Pacific." The report indicates that in 2025, under the backdrop of ongoing tensions in the Taiwan Strait, the navies of extraterritorial countries such as Australia, Canada, and the UK have strengthened their activities in the Western Pacific region, claiming to "maintain the freedom of navigation in international waters under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS)" by crossing the Taiwan Strait or conducting activities in the South China Sea to uphold so-called "freedom of navigation," thereby demonstrating military presence.

Statistics show that in 2025, excluding the United States, there were six warships from four countries—Australia, Canada, the UK, and New Zealand—that crossed the Taiwan Strait five times, all accompanied by official public reports. In previous years, such crossings were mainly led by the United States, with limited participation from other extraterritorial countries. Since 2024, the number of crossings by other extraterritorial countries has significantly increased, with participating countries shifting from primarily the United States and Canada to include more European and Oceanian nations. The crossing actions of extraterritorial countries, excluding the United States, have gradually become normalized, and the frequency of crossings has also stabilized.

In addition, in 2025, the UK and Australia conducted two so-called "freedom of navigation" operations in the Spratly Islands. Among them, Australia has been the most aggressive, with military aircraft intruding into the airspace of the Paracel Islands every year.

On February 13, 2025, a spokesperson for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement regarding "the deliberate intrusion of Australian military aircraft into the airspace of China's Paracel Islands." The Australian Department of Defense also issued a statement on the same day, not only avoiding the issue of its deliberate intrusion into China's Paracel airspace but also accusing "a Chinese J-16 fighter jet of 'intercepting' an Australian P-8A anti-submarine aircraft over the South China Sea." On October 19, an Australian P-8A anti-submarine patrol aircraft again illegally entered Chinese airspace over the Paracel Islands; on the same day, the Australian P-8A anti-submarine patrol aircraft returned to Australia overnight, flying from Darwin to its base at Edinburgh Air Force Base. The Australian side stated that its P-8A encountered interference from Chinese aircraft in the South China Sea.

Hu Bo, director of the "South China Sea Strategic Situation Awareness Program," introduced at the press conference that one of the reasons these extraterritorial countries are conducting military activities in the Western Pacific is to gain attention and assert their presence; any country that considers itself a major power feels the need to show off.

The report also emphasizes that regardless of how beautifully these countries articulate their military activities in the Western Pacific, China is undoubtedly the main target of their military actions in the region. There are indeed some differences in maritime rules between China and these countries, but these differences should be addressed through dialogue and consultation rather than resolved through military actions. It is even more regrettable that these differences have been politicized and even demonized, with their policies based on the completely unfounded exaggerations of "China wants to control the South China Sea" and "China threatens maritime passages." It is highly unreasonable for these countries to send military forces thousands of miles to the Western Pacific to engage in military friction with China due to some baseless or even imagined risks.