The U.S. warship USS Milius sailed through the Taiwan Strait on Sunday, just days after China ended its latest war games around the island.
The USS Milius, an Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer, made a “routine Taiwan Strait transit” in waters “where high-seas freedoms of navigation and overflight apply in accordance with international law,” according to the US Navy’s 7th Fleet.
The ship’s transit demonstrates the United States’ commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific, it added.
China, which views Taiwan as its own territory, officially ended its three days of exercises around Taiwan last Monday where it practiced precision strikes and blockading the island.
It staged the drills to express anger at Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen’s meeting with U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Kevin McCarthy, viewing it as an interference in China’s internal affairs and U.S. support for Taiwan’s separate identity from China.
Chinese military’s Eastern Theatre Command said in a social media post on Monday it organised troops to follow and monitor the U.S. destroyer throughout its operation.
Taiwan’s defence ministry said the ship sailed in a northerly direction through the strait and that during its transit the situation in the strait was “as normal”.
The U.S. Navy sails warships through the strait around once a month, and also regularly conducts similar freedom of navigation missions in the disputed South China Sea.
China has continued its military activities around Taiwan since the drills ended, though on a reduced scale.
Taiwan’s defense ministry reported on Monday morning that it had detected 18 Chinese military aircraft and four naval vessels moving around Taiwan in the previous 24 hours.
