Two US warships have sailed through the Taiwan Strait, according to an American military spokesman, amid heightened tensions with China.
The USS Curtis Wilbur and USS Antietam carried out a routine transit on Monday to prove US commitment “to a free and open Indo-Pacific,” Colonel Rob Manning told reporters at the Pentagon in Washington, DC.
“The ships’ transit through the Taiwan Strait demonstrates the US commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific,” Commander Nate Christensen, deputy spokesman for US Pacific Fleet, said in a statement.
“The US Navy will continue to fly, sail and operate anywhere international law allows,” he added.
Several Chinese warships shadowed the American vessels during the transit, military officials told CNN.
The US warships had conducted so-called “freedom of navigation” exercises in the 180 kilometer wide stretch of water.
In July, a pair of the US Navy’s guided-missile destroyers passed through the Taiwan…