In a statement, the US Navy said the passage “demonstrates the United States’ commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific region”.
Tensions in the Taiwan Strait have reached their highest level in years, following the visit of US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi in early August to the self-governing island.
China has carried out unprecedented land and sea military maneuvers in retaliation, and Taiwan has conducted its own drills to simulate defense against an invasion from China.
Taiwan lives under the constant threat of an invasion from Beijing, which considers the island as part of its territory to be reconquered one day, and if necessary by force.
Beijing rails against any diplomatic action that might confer legitimacy on Taiwan and has reacted with increasing aggressiveness to visits from Western officials and politicians.
The US Seventh Fleet said the two Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruisers – USS Antietam and USS Chancellorsville – conducted a ‘routine’ transit ‘in waters where freedom of navigation and overflight apply’ in accordance with international standards”.
She pointed out that the two ships had taken “a corridor of the Taiwan Strait which is beyond the territorial waters of any coastal state”, adding that the American military reserves the right “to operate wherever international law permits”.
In Washington, a spokesman for the White House, John Kirby, went further by saying on Sunday on the CNN channel that this operation sent “a very clear message: the United States Navy will sail, fly and operate wherever international law permits. “. He specified that these last maneuvers had been “planned for a long time”.
– “State of high alert” –
China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) said the United States had “made a big hype” about the ships passing through the strait.
“The PLA’s Eastern Theater Command tracks and warns US ships throughout their transit, and is aware of all their movements,” the Chinese military’s Eastern Command spokesman said. Shi Yie.
“The (Eastern) Theater troops remain on high alert and stand ready (…) to thwart any provocation,” he added.
The Taiwan Ministry of Defense said in a brief statement for its part that two American cruisers had crossed from north to south the Taiwan Strait, without naming them.
“As they travel south through the Taiwan Strait, the military is monitoring movements in our sea and airspace…and the situation is normal,” the source said.
The Seventh Fleet is based in Japan and is an essential part of Washington’s naval presence in the Pacific.
On August 12, Washington announced its intention to strengthen its trade relations with Taiwan and to carry out new air and sea crossings in the strait, in response to the “provocative” actions of China.
During the most important military maneuvers in its history around Taiwan, the Chinese army had for five days deployed warships, missiles and fighter planes, simulating a blockade of the island.
On August 16, Vice-Admiral of the Seventh Fleet, Karl Thomas, called the firing of ballistic missiles over the island by Beijing during its maneuvers “irresponsible” and claimed that these shots had grazed the tracks. international shipping.
