US Warship Transits Sensitive Taiwan Strait

TAIPEI — 

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

The U.S. Navy’s 7th Fleet said the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Ralph Johnson was conducting a “routine” transit through international waters.

“The ship’s transit through the Taiwan Strait demonstrates the United States’ commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific,” 7th Fleet spokesperson Nicholas Lingo said in a statement. “The United States military flies, sails, and operates anywhere international law allows.”

China’s Defense Ministry did not immediately respond to a faxed request for comment. Taiwan’s Defense Ministry referred questions to the U.S. Navy.

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 heightened 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 though the government has reported no unusual Chinese maneuvers.

Last year, U.S. naval ships transited the Strait roughly monthly. Saturday’s sailing was the first since November.

China claims democratically 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 calls 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.

China Says it Warned Away US Warship in South China Sea

BEIJING — 

Chinese forces followed and warned away a U.S. warship that entered waters near the Paracel Islands in the South China Sea, the country’s military said Thursday, in the latest uptick in tensions in the disputed waterway.

The Southern Theatre Command of the People’s Liberation Army said the USS Benfold “illegally” sailed into Chinese territorial waters without permission, violating the country’s sovereignty, and that Chinese naval and air forces tracked the ship.

“We solemnly demand that the U.S. side immediately stop such provocative actions, otherwise it will bear the serious consequences of unforeseen events,” it added.

The U.S. Navy rejected the idea that the Benfold was warned away but appeared to confirm the ship was operating in the area, saying the mission reflected the U.S. Navy’s commitment to defend freedom of navigation.

“The PRC’s statement about this mission is false,” 7th Fleet spokesperson Mark Langford said in a statement. The 7th Fleet is part of the U.S. Navy’s Pacific force.

The Benfold was conducting what the navy called a freedom of navigation operation “in accordance with international law,” the statement said. The ship then “continued on to conduct normal operations in international waters.”

The U.S. Navy frequently carries out such missions in the South China Sea to challenge Chinese territorial claims.

“The United States is defending every nation’s right to fly, sail, and operate wherever international law allows, as USS Benfold did this week. Nothing the PRC says otherwise will deter us,” the statement further added.

China has established military outposts on artificial islands in the waters, which are crossed by vital shipping lanes and also contain gas fields and rich fishing grounds.

The South China Sea has become one of many flashpoints in the testy relationship between China and the United States, with Washington rejecting what it calls unlawful territorial claims by Beijing.

China claims vast swaths of the South China Sea. Taiwan, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and the Philippines all have overlapping claims.