BEIJING
\nChina\u2019s military said on Wednesday that it had monitored and warned a U.S. warship that had sailed through the sensitive Taiwan Strait, a mission that happened shortly after China carried out drills near the island.
\nThe U.S. Navy\u2019s 7th Fleet said the guided-missile cruiser USS Port Royal conducted a \u201croutine\u201d Taiwan Strait transit through international waters \u201cin accordance with international law\u201d on Tuesday, the second such mission in two weeks.
\nThe United States has been carrying out such voyages about once a month, angering China, which views them as a sign of support for Taiwan, the democratically governed island that Beijing views as Chinese territory.
\nThe People\u2019s Liberation Army\u2019s Eastern Theatre Command said in a statement that its forces had monitored the ship throughout and \u201cwarned\u201d it.
\n\u201cThe United States frequently stages such dramas and provokes trouble, sending wrong signals to Taiwan independence forces, and deliberately intensifying tensions across the Taiwan Strait,\u201d it added.
\n\u201cTheatre troops maintain high alert at all times, resolutely counteract all threats and provocations, and resolutely defend national sovereignty and territorial integrity.\u201d
\nThe U.S. Navy said the ship \u201ctransited through a corridor in the Strait that is beyond the territorial sea of any coastal State\u201d.
\n\u201cPort Royal\u2019s transit through the Taiwan Strait demonstrates the United States\u2019 commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific. The United States military flies, sails, and operates anywhere international law allows.\u201d
\nTaiwan\u2019s Defence Ministry said the U.S. ship sailed north through the strait, and that the situation in the waterway was \u201cas normal\u201d.
\nLate on Tuesday, the ministry said a single Chinese WZ-10 attack helicopter had briefly crossed the strait\u2019s unofficial mid line, which combat aircraft from both sides normally avoid passing through, though China\u2019s air force does on occasion do so.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
BEIJING China\u2019s military said on Wednesday that it had monitored and warned a U.S. warship that had sailed through the sensitive Taiwan Strait, a mission that happened shortly after China carried out drills near the island. The U.S. Navy\u2019s 7th Fleet said the guided-missile cruiser USS Port Royal conducted a \u201croutine\u201d Taiwan Strait transit through […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":260004,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[18,7132,444,7131],"class_list":{"0":"post-259986","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world","8":"tag-china","9":"tag-taiwan-strait","10":"tag-us","11":"tag-warship"},"yoast_head":"\n