The Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Milius (DDG-69), deployed to the U.S. 7th Fleet area of operations, conducts underway operations, at an undisclosed location in South China Sea, in this handout picture released on April 10, 2023. (U.S. Navy/Handout via REUTERS)
TAIPEI – The U.S. warship USS Milius sailed through the Taiwan Strait on Sunday, the U.S. Navy said on Monday, describing it as a “routine” transit, but coming just days after China ended its latest war games around the island.
China, which views Taiwan as its own territory, officially ended its three days of exercises around Taiwan last Monday where it practiced precision strikes and blockading the island.
It staged the drills to express anger at Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen’s meeting with U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Kevin McCarthy.
The U.S. Navy’s 7th Fleet said the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Milius conducted a “routine Taiwan Strait transit” through waters “where high-seas freedoms of navigation and overflight apply in accordance with international law”.
The ship’s transit demonstrates the United States’ commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific, it added.