Taipei - Taiwan's military said China's first Russian-built guided missile destroyer passed through the Taiwan Strait yesterday, but downplayed the threat from the warship's high-tech weapons.
The New York Times said on Wednesday the first of China's two Sovremenny-class destroyers, equipped with ship-to-ship missiles capable of evading missile defences on US carrier fleets, would arrive in China as early as this week.
Gen Tang Yao-ming, chief of Taiwan's General Staff, said the warship passed through the strait yesterday, but added that the destroyer would not give Beijing a significant military edge.
