U.S warships sail through Taiwan Strait
The United States Navy has announced that two of its warships sailed through the Taiwan Strait on Sunday.
The US Navy said in a statement that the transit through the Taiwan Strait demonstrated the “United States’ commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific”.
“These (U.S.) ships transited through a corridor in the strait that is beyond the territorial sea of any coastal state,” the statement read.
The Navy says operation by its two guided-missile cruisers – the USS Antietam and the USS Chancellorsville demonstrates the United States’ commitment to freedom of navigation through international waters.
Such operations usually take eight to 12 hours to complete and are closely monitored by China’s military.
In recent years U.S. warships, and on occasion those from allied nations such as Britain and Canada, have routinely sailed through the strait, drawing the ire of China which claims Taiwan against the objections of its democratically elected government.
It is the first such operation since a visit to Taiwan by U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi enraged China which regards the island as its territory.
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Pelosi’s Taiwan trip in early August infuriated China which saw it as a U.S. attempt to interfere in its internal affairs.
China reacted to Pelosi’s visit by launching military drills near the island which have since continued.
The Chinese military’s Eastern Theatre Command said it was monitoring the two vessels’ progress.
“Troops in the theatre remain on high alert and are ready to thwart any provocation at any time,” it said in a statement.
Taiwan’s defense ministry said the ships were sailing in a southerly direction and that its forces were observing but that “the situation was as normal”.
The narrow Taiwan Strait has been a frequent source of military tension since the defeated Republic of China government fled to Taiwan in 1949 after losing a civil war with the communists, who established the People’s Republic of China.
Zainab Sa’id
