Photo/Illutration A Central Industry Security Force personnel stands guard near the docked Canadian warships, the HMS Calgary and the HMS Protecteur, at a port in the southern Indian city of Chennai September 10, 2008. (REUTERS)

BEIJING--China’s military on Monday condemned the sailing of a Canadian warship in the Taiwan Strait, saying its air and naval forces had monitored and warned the ship, a mission that came just a few days after U.S. Navy ships made a similar mission.

The U.S. Navy, and occasionally ships from allied countries like Canada, Britain and France, transits the strait around once a month. China, which claims Taiwan as its own territory, also says the strategic waterway belongs to it.

Canada’s actions “deliberately stirred up trouble” and undermined peace and stability in the strait, the People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theatre Command said in a statement.

“Theatre forces maintain a high level of alert at all times and resolutely counter all threats and provocations,” it added.

The Canadian military declined immediate comment.

Both the Chinese and Taiwanese governments identified the ship as the Ottawa.

Taiwan’s defense ministry said on Sunday that the ship had sailed in a northerly direction, adding that Taiwanese forces also kept watch.

Taiwan’s foreign ministry welcomed the sailing.

“Canada has once again taken concrete actions to defend the freedom, peace and openness of the Taiwan Strait and has demonstrated its firm position that the Taiwan Strait is international waters,” it said on Sunday.

Last October, a U.S. and a Canadian warship sailed together through the strait, less than a week after China conducted a new round of war games around the island.

Taiwan’s democratically-elected government rejects Beijing’s sovereignty claims, saying only the island’s people can decide their future.

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