Destroyer USS Ralph Johnson (DDG-114) sailed through the Taiwan Strait on Thursday as Chinese military assets shadowed.
“The ship transited through a corridor in the Strait that is beyond the territorial sea of any coastal state,” Japan-based U.S. 7th Fleet said in a Thursday statement.
“Ralph Johnson’s transit through the Taiwan Strait demonstrates the United States’ commitment to upholding freedom of navigation for all nations as a principle. No member of the international community should be intimidated or coerced into giving up their rights and freedoms.”
China’s People’s Liberation Army said it surveilled the transit, according to state-run Xinhua News.
“The Eastern Theater Command remains on high alert, and will resolutely safeguard national sovereignty and security, as well as regional peace and stability,” PLA Eastern Theater Command spokesperson Senior Col. Li Xi said in a statement reported by Xinhua.
U.S. warships periodically sail through the Taiwan Strait multiple times per year and China often criticizes those transits and usually monitors them.
Royal Canadian Navy Halifax-class frigate HMCS Montréal (FFH-336) performed a strait transit at the end of July. Destroyer USS John Finn (DDG-113) conducted two transits through the Taiwan Strait earlier this year.
