US Sends Fleet Destroyer Through Taiwan Strait, China Sends Warning

The U.S. Navy’s 7th Fleet said that the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Ralph Johnson passed through the Taiwan Strait on Aug. 22, prompting a warning from China.
The strait is a narrow waterway separating China and Taiwan by about 80 miles, where the Chinese military has been regularly conducting exercises while increasing its rhetoric about seizing Taiwan.
“The ship transited through a corridor in the Strait that is beyond the territorial sea of any coastal state,” the statement reads. “No member of the international community should be intimidated or coerced into giving up their rights and freedoms. The United States military flies, sails, and operates anywhere international law allows.”
The U.S. Navy 7th Fleet stated that the passage through the Taiwan Strait “demonstrates the United States’ commitment to upholding freedom of navigation for all nations as a principle.”
The CCP’s military described the sailing as “public hype.” It said it sent naval and air forces to monitor and warn the U.S. ship and would “deal with it in accordance with the law and regulations.”
“Troops in the theatre remain on high alert at all times and will resolutely safeguard national sovereignty and security as well as regional peace and stability,” the Chinese People’s Liberation Army stated.