US warship sails through Taiwan Strait in ‘routine’ operation
- Operation weeks before Taiwan presidential election likely to be seen as provocative by Beijing
- Washington has upped the frequency of its transits, which Taipei welcomes as a sign of growing support
The USS Chancellorsville, a guided-missile cruiser, conducted its transit through the strategic waterway in a demonstration of “the US commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific”, the US Navy said in a statement early on Wednesday.
“The US Navy will continue to operate anywhere international law allows,” it said.
Taiwan’s defence ministry said the US warship had sailed freely through the Taiwan Strait from the north before turning through the Bashi Channel near the southernmost tip of Taiwan.
The island’s military had “full grasp during the entire process of the neighbouring seas, the air and naval spaces, and other relevant developments, with no abnormalities during the period”, Taiwan’s statement said, adding that the public should not be worried.
This was at least the ninth passage by US naval vessels through the Taiwan Strait this year, most recently with the warship USS Antietam in late September.