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A Canadian warship transited the Taiwan Strait days before a high-stakes visit to Ottawa by the Chinese Foreign Minister, defying an earlier warning from Beijing to stay away from the disputed waterway, which China claims as its own.

The frigate HMCS Charlottetown made the trip last week, the Department of National Defence said Thursday. It did this without being accompanied by any allied countries’ ships.

“On May 22, 2026, HMCS Charlottetown conducted a routine transit through the Taiwan Strait, which was completed on May 23, 2026,” spokesperson Andrée-Anne Poulin said in a statement.

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The Canadian warship transit took place just weeks after a warning delivered by Wang Di, China’s ambassador to Canada, in an interview with The Globe last month. The envoy said the new partnership between Canada and China would be harmed if Ottawa sends more military vessels through the Taiwan Strait or if Canadian parliamentarians keep travelling to Taiwan to meet with its government.

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Defence Minister David McGuinty said earlier this month that Ottawa considers the waterway between China and Taiwan to be international waters.

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Conservative foreign affairs critic Michael Chong, who earlier this month travelled to Taiwan to meet Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te in defiance of the Chinese ambassador’s warning, welcomed the latest transit.

“I think the government had to signal that it wasn’t going to comply with Beijing’s unreasonable demand,” Mr. Chong said.

From 2018 until the resignation of former prime minister Justin Trudeau last year, Canadian warships transited the Taiwan Strait 11 times – over the objections of Beijing.

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Vina Nadjibulla, vice-president of research and strategy at the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada, said Canada’s behaviour in the South China Sea and East China “was being watched closely,” in Asian capitals from Beijing to Tokyo to Taipei, as well as in Australia and the United States.

She said it’s a strong signal that Canada will plot its own course in the Indo-Pacific.

It’s the first time Canada has used the route since Mr. Carney’s visit to China in January and the announcement of the new strategic partnership with Beijing.

“It shows that Canada is committed to upholding international law and ensuring that international waterways, such as Taiwan Strait, are free for passage for all, including Canada,” Ms. Nadjibulla said.

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