Warplanes of the Eastern Theater Command of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) conduct operations during joint combat training exercises around the Taiwan Island, Aug. 7, 2022. Photo: Xinhua

The Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) tracked and monitored a US destroyer as it made a transit through the Taiwan Straits on Wednesday, with experts saying on Thursday that the provocative US move, the first of its kind since separatist Lai Ching-te won the Taiwan regional election, sent a wrong signal and further raised tensions.

The Chinese Defense Ministry also confirmed on Thursday that the PLA Eastern Theater Command recently held combat patrols around the island of Taiwan, vowing firm actions to defend national sovereignty and territorial integrity.

Senior Colonel Shi Yi, a spokesperson at the PLA Eastern Theater Command, said in a statement late on Wednesday that the USS John Finn made a transit through the Taiwan Straits on the day and publicly hyped its operation, and the PLA Eastern Theater Command organized forces to track, monitor and deal with the US warship's transit operation throughout its entire course in accordance with the law and regulations.

Foreign media outlets including Reuters said it marks the first time the US Navy has sent a warship through the Taiwan Straits following the January 13 regional election on the island of Taiwan.

Shi revealed that recently, the US military frequently made provocative moves and intentionally sabotaged peace and stability in the region.

The troops affiliated with the theater command maintained high alert at all times to resolutely defend national sovereignty security as well as regional peace and stability, Shi said.

In response to the US warship's transit through the Taiwan Straits, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said at a regular press conference on Thursday that the US should immediately stop infringement and provocative moves, stop creating troubles undermining peace and stability in the Taiwan Straits, and stop sending any wrong signals to "Taiwan independence" separatist forces. 

The defense authority on the island of Taiwan said in a press release on Thursday morning that it detected 18 PLA aircraft and six PLA vessels around the island over the past day, with four of the detected aircraft crossing the so-called median line of the Taiwan Straits or entering the island's self-proclaimed southwest air defense identification zone.

The PLA Eastern Theater Command recently held routine naval, air joint combat alert patrols around the island of Taiwan in a move to further enhance the troops' combat training level as well as elevate their combat capabilities in safeguarding national sovereignty and territorial integrity, Senior Colonel Wu Qian, a spokesperson of China's Ministry of National Defense, said in a regular press conference on Thursday.

China's reunification requires Taiwan's return, and the PLA will speak through actions and always be an iron Great Wall defending national sovereignty and territorial integrity, Wu said

"Taiwan will never be a country. 'Taiwan independence' and the attempts by foreign forces to split China will never succeed," Wu said.

US having sent a warship to sail through the Taiwan Straits shortly after Lai's election sent a wrong signal to the "Taiwan independence" secessionists, a Beijing-based military expert who requested anonymity told the Global Times on Thursday.

The PLA's response showed that it has every situation under control as always, the expert said.

With the PLA's capabilities in situational awareness and precision strike capability, a few foreign warships transiting through the narrow Taiwan Straits are of little military significance, and can only serve the purpose of putting on a political show, analysts said.

Song Zhongping, a Chinese mainland military expert and TV commentator, slammed the US warship transit as a provocation. 

After the regional election on the island of Taiwan, the US boosted provocations over the Taiwan question in attempts to contain China under its "Indo-Pacific Strategy," Song told the Global Times on Thursday.

Another goal of the Biden administration is to win more votes in the upcoming US presidential election by adopting a strong stance on China, Song said.

The latest warship transit in the Taiwan Straits is not the only US attempt to raise military tensions in the region.

US think tank the Center for Strategic and International Studies on Tuesday released a report hyping that the "majority of experts" from the US and the island of Taiwan said they believe "a crisis in the Taiwan Straits is likely in 2024."

According to a graphic released by the US Naval Institute on Monday, the US Navy has amassed since last weekend three aircraft carriers in the Asia-Pacific region, namely the USS Theodore Roosevelt, the USS Carl Vinson and the USS Ronald Reagan, with analysts saying that they will likely hold provocative exercises or patrols on China's doorstep.

Deploying military assets and making irresponsible remarks are US tricks aimed at creating tensions in the Taiwan Straits, containing China's development and maintaining the US' hegemony, analysts said.

The world should clearly see that tensions in the Taiwan Straits are not being created by China, but by the US as well as collusion among "Taiwan independence" secessionists and external interference forces, experts said.