US warship makes Taiwan Strait transit for first time since November

A US warship sailed through the sensitive Taiwan Strait on Saturday, part of what the U.S. military calls routine activity, which still irritates China.

The 7th Fleet said the US Navy's 7th Fleet said the US Navy's 7th Fleet Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Ralph Johnson was conducting a routine transit through international waters.

Nicholas Lingo, 7th Fleet spokesman, said the ship's transit through the Taiwan Strait shows the United States commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific. The United States military flies, sails and operates anywhere international law allows. China's Defense Ministry did not respond to a request for comment.

Taiwan s defense ministry said the ship sailed in a northerly direction through the Strait, that its forces had monitored its passage and observed nothing out of the ordinary.

Taiwan is currently in a state of alert due to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, nervous that China may try to take advantage of the situation to make a move on the island, even though the government has reported no unusual Chinese maneuvers.

The U.S. naval ships transited the Strait about monthly last year. Saturday s sailing was the first since November.

China claims to have ruled Taiwan as its own territory, and has mounted repeated air force missions into Taiwan's air defense identification zone ADIZ over the past two years, provoking anger in Taipei.

Beijing considers Taiwan the most sensitive and important issue in its relations with Washington.

Like most countries, the United States has no formal diplomatic ties with Taiwan, but is its most important international backer and arms supplier.