The USS Milius sailed through the Taiwan Strait on Sunday in a “routine” transit, days after China finished its latest war games surrounding the island.
China, which claims Taiwan as its territory, ended three days of targeted bombings and blockades around Taiwan last Monday.
It organized the drills to protest Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen’s meeting with U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Kevin McCarthy, which it saw as interference in China’s internal affairs and support for Taiwan’s independence.
The 7th Fleet stated the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Milius made a “routine Taiwan Strait transit” in waters “where high-seas freedoms of navigation and overflight apply in accordance with international law.”
It added that the ship’s voyage shows the U.S.’s support for a free Indo-Pacific.
On Monday, the Chinese military’s Eastern Theatre Command posted that it had personnel track and observe the U.S. destroyer.
The U.S. Navy sails warships through the strait monthly and undertakes similar freedom of navigation missions in the disputed South China Sea.
Last week, the USS Milius cruised near Mischief Reef, one of the most major artificial and Chinese-controlled islands in the South China Sea. Beijing called it illegal.
Since the drills finished, China has curtailed its military activity around Taiwan.
Taiwan’s defense ministry reported 18 Chinese military planes and four naval vessels over Taiwan in the preceding 24 hours on Monday morning.
China has always used force to subjugate democratic Taiwan.
Taiwan’s administration opposes China’s territorial claims, saying only the island’s people can decide their future.
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