According to international practice and the mainland's claims, the general territorial sea line is within the 12 nautical mile range, and the territorial sea within the 12 nautical mile line is consistent with the territory in the legal sense. However, we know that the narrowest point in the north of the Taiwan Strait is 172 kilometers, and the widest point in the south can reach 370 kilometers, which is beyond the scope of the territorial waters. Therefore, although the waters in the middle of the Taiwan Strait are the exclusive economic zones of the mainland, legally speaking, ships and aircraft of any country can pass through.
However, there are two prerequisites for this "pass", the first is that it needs to be reported to our side for approval, and the second is that it must be "harmless" to be passed. Report well to understand, so what is "innocent passage"?
Presumably everyone knows that during the Cold War, the Type 051 destroyer of the Chinese Navy heroically intercepted the powerful Kirov-class nuclear-powered cruiser "Frunze" of the Soviet Navy. At that time, the Soviet modern-class destroyers escorting the "Frunze" showed a state of "innocent passage" - the main guns were raised high, indicating that they did not regard the other side as a target. Therefore, the author believes that as long as foreign warships and aircraft report to our side in compliance with the law and pass through the Taiwan Strait in a "harmless" manner, it is actually reasonable to pass through the Taiwan Strait.
However, what makes people feel extremely indignant is that the US Navy's destroyer USS Finn that recently sailed through the Taiwan Strait obviously did not abide by the rules that should be observed. According to a public statement made by China's Eastern Theater of Operations, when the US destroyer USS Finn sailed through the Taiwan Strait a few days ago, it was under full supervision and vigilance by our troops, and was dealt with in accordance with laws and regulations!
Not only that, China's Eastern Theater also solemnly stated that the provocative acts of the United States have undermined regional peace and stability. It is not difficult to see that the wording of our Eastern Theater is very harsh, and it can be said that it has directly pointed out the bad behavior of the US Navy and strongly criticized it. Therefore, we can obviously judge that the US Navy's passage through the Taiwan Strait this time is not a "harmless passage", but is very likely to be a "malicious passage"!
The destroyer "Finn" passing through the strait
On the one hand, I do not believe that the US military, which has always been extremely arrogant and considers itself to be the best in the world, will make a reasonable report to our side when it sails through the Taiwan Strait. On the other hand, the US destroyer USS Finn was very arrogant when it sailed through the Taiwan Strait. As we can see from the picture below, the secondary gun of the destroyer "Finn", that is, the famous "Phalanx" close-in defense gun, is pointing to the side of the land, and the provocation can be said to be very obvious!
On the other hand, the movements of its main guns are even more arrogant, and they do not raise their main guns high like the modern class of the Soviet army, but place them in a straight position and are in a state where they can be fired at any time! It can be seen that this US destroyer is ready for battle, and if there is an "incident," it can be fired at any time! It is really extremely arrogant!
At the same time that this US destroyer brazenly and forcibly intruded into the waters of the Taiwan Strait, the so-called US "delegation" paid a visit to Taiwan Island! It is also said that it will also meet with Tsai Ying-wen, Lai Shunqingde, and other local "independence" factions in Taiwan! It can be seen that the US destroyer chose this point in time to visit Taiwan in order to embolden the US "delegation"!
The reason why the US Navy dares to dispatch only a 9,000-ton Burke-class destroyer to the waters of the Taiwan Strait to carry out provocations is also related to the recent movements of the US Navy. At the time of the Red Sea war between the US military and the Houthis in the Middle East, the US military still managed to transfer three aircraft carriers, including the USS Reagan, the USS Carl Vinson, and the USS Roosevelt, to the waters of the Western Pacific.
However, what the Americans may not expect is that the overall strength of our navy and air force has long since changed from what it used to be after years of development. Even if the United States brazenly dispatches three aircraft carrier squadrons, it will be useless to face our powerful navy, air force, and missile forces within the first island chain. Once the Americans really dare to provoke incidents, then we will inevitably take the lead in dispatching powerful anti-ship ballistic missiles, hypersonic missiles and other powerful missiles to comprehensively cover US aircraft carriers, military facilities, and naval and air bases, and the entire combat process may be calculated in hours. At that time, no matter how arrogant the US aircraft carrier is, it will only be able to die down in the end!
We should note that after the end of the Taiwan local election campaign, the United States, on the one hand, openly stated that it adheres to the "one-China principle," but not only sent people to visit Taiwan, but also increased its troops to the west, including the fact that three aircraft carrier battle groups have already assembled in the western Pacific. While strongly criticizing the bad behavior of the United States, we should also be vigilant against possible further provocations by the United States!
With a total area of about 80,000 square kilometers, the Taiwan Strait is not only one of the important fishing grounds, but also rich in oil and gas resources (more than 110 wells have been drilled at sea), and there are many rare minerals (such as iron ore, epidote, zircon, magnetite, etc., and there are many types of minerals). It can be seen that the beautiful Taiwan Strait can be called a veritable "cornucopia of the sea" of the Chinese nation, and we must resolutely protect such a place! We must not allow Americans to come and leave as soon as they want!