US warships sail through Taiwan Strait

US Navy guided missile destroyers have transited through the sensitive Taiwan Strait.
US Navy guided missile destroyers have transited through the sensitive Taiwan Strait. Credit: EPA

Two US warships have sailed through the sensitive Taiwan Strait drawing protest from Beijing, the second such mission in December and coming almost two weeks after a Chinese aircraft carrier group used the same waterway.

China, which claims democratically run Taiwan as its own territory, has been angered by stepped-up US support for the island, including arms sales and sailing warships through the Taiwan Strait, further souring Beijing-Washington relations.

The US Navy said the guided missile destroyers USS John S. McCain and USS Curtis Wilbur had on Thursday "conducted a routine Taiwan Strait transit Dec. 31 in accordance with international law".


This is the 13th sailing through the strait by the US Navy this year.

China's Defence Ministry denounced the trip as "provocation" and "a show of force", adding Chinese ships and aircraft trailed the US ships.

The passage of the ships sent the wrong message to supporters of Taiwan independence and are a serious threat to peace and stability, it added.

"The Chinese People's Liberation Army maintains a high level of alert at all times, responds to all threats and provocations at all times, and resolutely defends national sovereignty and territorial integrity," the ministry said.

Taiwan's Defence Ministry said the ships had sailed in a northerly direction through the strait on what it termed an "ordinary mission". Taiwan's armed forces monitored the sailing and the situation is "as normal", it added.

China's military said it had tailed the last US warship to pass through the Taiwan Strait on December 19, and denounced the mission.

