A U.S. guided-missile destroyer transited the Taiwan Strait on Tuesday, the sixth transit since the start of the Biden administration, U.S. 7th Fleet announced today.
Guided-missile destroyer USS Curtis Wilbur (DDG-54) sailed “through international waters in accordance with international law,” reads the statement.
“The ship’s transit through the Taiwan Strait demonstrates the U.S. commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific. The United States military flies, sails, and operates anywhere international law allows.”
The transit follows a May transit of Curtis Wilbur that Chinese officials loudly protested for “sending wrong signals to the ‘Taiwan independence’ forces, deliberately disrupting and sabotaging the regional situation and endangering peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait.”
While Beijing has yet to release a statement on the transit, U.S. transits and operations in the South China Sea are typically monitored by People’s Liberation Army Navy warships.
Earlier in June, Beijing denounced bilateral American and Australia drills in the South China Sea with Curtis Wilbur and the Australian frigate HMAS Ballarat (FFH 155).
“We hope relevant countries can do more to promote regional peace and stability, rather than flex muscles,” Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Wang Wenbin said on June 11.
The following is the complete June 22, 2021 statement from U.S. 7th Fleet.
TAIWAN STRAIT –
The Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer USS Curtis Wilbur (DDG 54) conducted a routine Taiwan Strait transit June 22 (local time) through international waters in accordance with international law. The ship’s transit through the Taiwan Strait demonstrates the U.S. commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific. The United States military flies, sails, and operates anywhere international law allows.
