A U.S. Navy guided-missile destroyer moved through the Taiwan Strait on Tuesday, the service announced.
A spokesperson for U.S. 7th Fleet confirmed to USNI News that USS Milius (DDG-69) initiated the transit on Monday and finished on Tuesday.
“Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Milius (DDG 69) conducted a routine Taiwan Strait transit Nov. 23 (local time) through international waters in accordance with international law,” Lt. Nicholas Lingo said in a 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.”
Last week, Milius drilled with the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force in the South China Sea for an anti-submarine warfare exercise, USNI News previously reported.
Multiple U.S. Navy destroyers have performed Taiwan Strait transits throughout this year, with near-monthly transits of American warships through the waters for much of 2021. Some of those transits have received protests from China, which routinely criticizes U.S. strait transits and freedom of navigation operations in the region.
USS Curtis Wilbur (DDG-54) performed a Taiwan Strait transit in May that received protests from Chinese officials, USNI News reported at the time.
In July, the U.S. Navy denied a claim from China that it chased an American destroyer out of the South China Sea. USS Benfold (DDG-65) at the time had performed a freedom of navigation operation near the Paracel Islands, to which China, Vietnam and Taiwan have all staked claims.
