The US Navy has sailed a warship through the Taiwan Strait in its first known transit since China carried out a large encirclement exercise around self-ruled Taiwan.
The US 7th Fleet said the transit through the strait by the USS Milius on Sunday was routine.The cruisers “transited through a corridor in the Strait that is beyond the territorial sea of any coastal State,” the statement said.
China conducted many military drills in the strait in retaliation for Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen meeting with US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy on a visit to the US earlier this month.
China said Wednesday that the air and sea drills simulating an encirclement of Taiwan were intended as a “serious warning” to pro-independence politicians on the self-governing island and their foreign supporters.
China also sanctioned the organisations involved with Tsai’s visit in the US, including the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, where her meeting with McCarthy and other members of Congress were held.
On Sunday, China launched a rocket carrying a satellite that dropped debris into waters north of the capital Taipei. While the satellite launch had no obvious military purpose, it disrupted travel, delaying flights.