A U.S. Navy vessel that sailed through the Taiwan Strait on Tuesday was “stirring up trouble,” China said.
The Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Milius navigated through the Taiwan Strait “in accordance with international law,” the U.S. 7th Fleet said in a statement.
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“The ship’s transit through the Taiwan Strait demonstrates the U.S. commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific,” the statement added. “The United States military flies, sails, and operates anywhere international law allows.”
The Chinese government viewed the U.S. destroyer’s passage differently.
Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said U.S. warships have been “flexing muscle and stirring up trouble in the Taiwan Strait repeatedly in the name of freedom of navigation,” according to the Associated Press.
“This is not a commitment to freedom and openness, but a deliberate attempt to disrupt and undermine regional peace and stability,” Zhao said.
Navy vessels frequently travel in the Taiwan Strait, and it is considered international waters.
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This is the latest development in the increasingly tense relationship between the Chinese and U.S. governments, notwithstanding last week’s virtual meeting between Chinese leader Xi Jinping and President Joe Biden.
U.S. officials said after the meeting that the two did not establish any “guardrails” around Taiwan despite Biden’s desire to minimize the risk of conflict.
