China 's military said it dispatched naval and air forces to shadow Canadian and Australian warships that transited the Taiwan Strait over the weekend, denouncing the passage as "provocations."

Why It Matters

Beijing's Communist Party government claims sovereignty over the strait by virtue of its claim to democratic Taiwan, despite never having ruled the island. Taipei, Washington and many other governments regard the waterway—less than 100 miles wide at its narrowest—as international waters.

The United States—and increasingly Australia, Canada, and other allies with a naval presence in the region—have been carrying out multiple transits through the strait for years in a challenge to Beijing's position, which they view as incompatible with freedom of navigation under international la

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