TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The Canadian Navy passes through the Taiwan Strait at least three times a year and anticipates an increase in such transits in the future, Canadian Representative to Taiwan Jim Nickel said on Wednesday (June 12).
More Canadian naval presence will inevitably be expected in the area, Nickel said, per CNA. His comments echo Canada’s Strategic Joint Staff Head Paul Prevost’s statements on the nation’s plan for the Indo-Pacific region under Operation Horizon.
“The strategy calls for three ships to be deployed every year, and our intent for 2024 is to have three ships in the region,” Prevost said during a parliamentary briefing in January. “Each ship will be deployed for about six months,” he added. The Halifax-class frigate Montreal was set to depart for the region soon, he said at the time.
In November, the Halifax-class frigate HMCS Ottawa sailed through the Taiwan Strait alongside Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Rafael Peralta. The passage “demonstrates the commitment of the United States and our allies and partners to a free and open Indo-Pacific,” the U.S. Seventh Fleet said in a statement at the time.
Operation Horizon aims to uphold “peace, stability, and the rules-based international order,” in the Indo-Pacific, according to Canada’s Department of National Defence. “The Canadian Navy will annually deploy three warships, increasing opportunities to work with allies and partner nations and enhancing military cooperation, including port visits,” the department said.
