In the first transit since China conducted extraordinary military exercises surrounding the island during the arrival of US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, two US Navy warships have entered the Taiwan Strait.
According to a statement from the US 7th Fleet in Japan, the guided-missile cruisers USS Antietam and USS Chancellorsville were sailing on Sunday “through waters where high seas freedoms of navigation and overflight apply in line with the international law.”
According to the statement, the transit was “ongoing” and “no hindrance from foreign armed troops so far.”
“These vessels are passing through a section of the strait that is outside of any coastal state’s territorial sea. The US commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific is demonstrated by the ships’ passage across the Taiwan Strait. Everywhere that is permitted by international law, the United States military flies, sails, and operates “the sentence included.
The democratic, autonomous island of Taiwan is separated from the Chinese mainland by a strait that is 110 miles long.
Despite never having had authority over the island, Beijing asserts its sovereignty over Taiwan and regards the Taiwan Strait as a part of its “internal seas.”
The majority of the strait, according to the US Navy, is in international waters, CNN said.
Even on Friday, following the visit of US Senator Marsha Blackburn to Taiwan, China began military exercises in the skies and seas surrounding the autonomous island, according to Global Times.
