China’s military on Monday condemned a Canadian warship’s crossing of the Taiwan Strait, insisting that its air and naval forces had monitored and warned the vessel, days after US Navy ships made a similar voyage.

The military monitored the passage of a Canadian frigate through the Taiwan Strait and dealt with it effectively,’ Li Shi, spokesman for the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theatre Command, said in a statement, adding that ‘the Eastern Theatre Command sent naval and air forces to monitor the frigate and remained on alert throughout its passage.

The issue of the island of Taiwan, located in East Asia off the coast of China, is one of the most sensitive for Beijing, which considers it an integral part of its territory and rejects any attempt or separatist behaviour aimed at independence from Beijing’s authority.