TAIPEI (Archyde.com) – A U.S. warship sailed through the Taiwan Strait on Saturday in what the U.S. military said was “routine” but China called a “provocation.”
The destroyer USS Ralph Johnson was making a “routine” passage through international waters, the US Navy’s 7th Fleet said.
“The ship’s transit through the Taiwan Strait demonstrates the United States’ commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific,” 7th Fleet spokesman Nicholas Lingo said in a statement.
“The United States military flies, sails and operates wherever international law permits,” he added.
A Chinese military spokesman called it a “provocative act”.
Taiwan’s defense ministry said the ship passed through the strait heading north and nothing unusual was seen.
US Navy ships passed through the strait about once a month last year, much to the anger of Beijing, which has accused Washington of stoking tensions in the region. Saturday’s crossing was the first since November.
Taiwan has no formal diplomatic ties with the United States, but the latter are its main international support and supply it with arms.
In Beijing’s eyes, the Taiwan issue is the most sensitive and important in its relations with Washington.
(Report Ben Blanchard in Taipei and Tony Munroe in Beijing, French version Laetitia Volga)