Service personnel from the navy’s first minelaying squadron are pictured in an undated photograph during training at Kaohsiung’s Zuoying naval base.
Photo courtesy of the Military News Agency

China’s sovereignty claim over the Taiwan Strait is false, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday, adding that the only waters a country has full sovereignty over are the 12 nautical miles (22km) around its territory.

Ministry spokeswoman Joanne Ou (歐江安) reiterated that the government considers the Taiwan Strait to be international waters, except for the 12-nautical-mile strip defined as territorial waters.