The U.S. Navy’s 7th Fleet said the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Curtis Wilbur (DDG-54) conducted a “routine Taiwan Strait transit” on Tuesday following international law.
A spokesman for China’s Eastern Theatre Command said, “The U.S. actions send the wrong signals to Taiwan independence forces, deliberately disrupting the regional situation and endangering peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait,” in response to a “routine” mission.
Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen says they are already an independent state called the Republic of China, its formal name.
The U.S. Navy has been conducting such operations every month or so. Last Month the US Destroyer USS John Mc Cain (DDG 56) had conducted a similar mission.
The United States, like most countries, has no formal diplomatic ties with Taiwan but is its most important international backer and a major seller of arms.
Military tension between Taiwan and Beijing has spiked over the past year. Taipei complained of China repeatedly sending its air force into Taiwan’s air defence zone.
