On Sunday (Apr 16), the US Navy reported that the US warship “USS Milius”, an Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer, sailed through the Taiwan Strait in a “routine” transit.
This came just days after China concluded its latest war games around Taiwan, which it staged to express anger at Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen’s meeting with US House of Representatives Speaker Kevin McCarthy.
China views Taiwan as its own territory and regards US support for Taiwan’s separate identity as interference in its internal affairs.
The US Navy’s 7th Fleet stated that the US warship USS Milius conducted the transit through waters “where high-seas freedoms of navigation and overflight apply in accordance with international law.”
The Navy further added that “The ship transited through a corridor in the Strait that is beyond the territorial sea of any coastal State.” The US Navy carries out similar freedom of navigation missions regularly in the disputed South China Sea, and the ship’s transit highlights the US commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific.
The Chinese military’s Eastern Theatre Command later posted on social media that it had followed and monitored the USS Milius as it sailed through the Taiwan Strait on Sunday.
The US Navy sails warships through the strait about once a month.
USS Milius sails near “Mischief Reef”
Last week, the USS Milius sailed near one of the most important man-made and Chinese-controlled islands in the South China Sea, Mischief Reef. Beijing condemned the action as illegal.
Despite the drills ending, China has continued its military activities around Taiwan, albeit on a reduced scale.
On Monday morning, Taiwan’s defence ministry reported that it had spotted 18 Chinese military aircraft and four naval vessels operating around Taiwan in the previous 24-hour period.
China has never renounced the use of force to bring democratically governed Taiwan under its control. Taiwan’s government rejects China’s territorial claims and maintains that only the island’s people can decide their future.
