Two US Navy warships sailed through international waters in the Taiwan Strait on Sunday, the first such operation since US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan enraged China, which considers the island to be its territory.
According to the US Navy, cruisers Chancellorsville and Antietam are carrying out the ongoing operation, which was confirmed by Reuters. Such operations are typically completed in eight to twelve hours and are closely monitored by China’s military.
In recent years, US warships, as well as those from allied nations such as the United Kingdom and Canada, have routinely sailed through the strait, infuriating China, which claims Taiwan despite the objections of its democratically elected government.
Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan in early August infuriated China, which saw it as an attempt by the US to meddle in its internal affairs. China then conducted military drills near the island, which have since been ongoing.
“These (US) ships transited through a corridor in the strait that is beyond any coastal state’s territorial sea,” the US Navy said.
According to the navy, the operation demonstrates the United States’ commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific, and the US military flies, sails, and operates anywhere international law allows.
The Chinese military’s Eastern Theater Command said it was tracking and warning the ships.
“Troops in the theatre are on high alert and ready to thwart any provocation at any time,” the statement continued.
Taiwan’s defence ministry stated that the ships were sailing south and that its forces were observing, but that “the situation remained normal.”
Since the defeated Republic of China government fled to Taiwan in 1949 after losing a civil war with the communists, who established the People’s Republic of China, the narrow Taiwan Strait has been a frequent source of military tension.
Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan was followed a week later by a group of five other US lawmakers, prompting China’s military to conduct additional exercises near the island.
Senator Marsha Blackburn, a member of the Senate Commerce and Armed Services committees, arrived in Taiwan on Thursday, the third visit by a US dignitary this month, defying Chinese pressure to halt the visits.
The administration of US President Joe Biden has tried to keep tensions between Washington and Beijing at bay by reiterating that congressional visits are routine.
The US has no formal diplomatic relations with Taiwan, but is required by law to provide the island with means of self-defense.
China has never ruled out using force to seize control of Taiwan.
Taiwan claims that the People’s Republic of China has never ruled the island and thus has no claim to it, and that only the 23 million people of Taiwan can decide their future.
