The two vessels are the destroyer USS Ralph Johnson and the survey ship USNS Bowditch, which sailed through the Taiwan Strait on a north-to-south voyage lasting from Monday through Wednesday, USNI News reported.
The Johnson is an Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer while the Bowditch is a Pathfinder-class survey vessel.
"Ships transit between the East China Sea and the South China Sea via the Taiwan Strait and have done so for many years," Navy Commander Matthew, a spokesman for the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, said Wednesday in a statement.
"The transit occurred through a corridor in the Taiwan Strait that is beyond any coastal state's territorial seas," Comer said. "Within this corridor, all nations enjoy high-seas freedom of navigation, overflight and other internationally lawful uses of the sea related to these freedoms."
The Chinese Army, Navy and Air Force tracked the two U.S. Navy vessels during their three-day voyage.
"The U.S.'s actions sent the wrong signals and increased security risks," China's People's Liberation Army spokesman Capt. Li Xi said in a statement.
"The troops of the Chinese PLA Eastern Theater Command remain on high alert and all times to resolutely safeguard China's sovereignty and security as well as regional peace and stability," Xi said.
China routinely tracks U.S. Navy transits through the Taiwan Strait, which last occurred in October when the USS Higgins and Canadian frigate HMCS Vancouver undertook the voyage.
China has laid claim to the Taiwan Strait and Taiwan, which it considers to be part of China's sovereign territory.
The Taiwan Strait spans 111 miles and is considered an international waterway.
The U.S. Navy and naval forces of allied nations commonly traverse the strait to challenge China's territorial claims and affirm its status as an international waterway controlled by no nation.
China also routinely conducts military drills and overflights near Taiwan, and Chinese officials have declared their intent to re-unify with Taiwan by 2047.
The United States and Taiwan are closely allied via the Taiwan Relations Act, which enables the United States to provide Taiwan with arms to defend the island nation and aggression from China or other nations.
Former President Joe Biden repeatedly said the United States would intervene militarily if China were to attack Taiwan.
Taiwan detects 62 Chinese aircraft as US ships transit waters
Taipei (AFP) Feb 12, 2025 -
Taiwan said Wednesday it detected 62 Chinese military aircraft near the self-ruled island this week, as two US ships sailed through the sensitive Taiwan Strait.
The United States and its allies regularly transit the 180-kilometre (112-mile) Taiwan Strait to reinforce its status as an international waterway, angering Beijing.
Beijing has never ruled Taiwan, but it claims the democratic island as part of its territory and has threatened to bring it under its control by force.
Taipei said the US ships travelled from north to south "starting from February 10".
China's People's Liberation Army said Wednesday it had monitored the passage of the US destroyer and the ocean survey ship.
"This US action sent the wrong signal and increased security risks," Li Xi, a senior colonel and spokesman for China's Eastern Theatre Command, said in a statement.
Taiwan's defence ministry spokesman Sun Li-fang dismissed the criticism and said Taipei supported the freedom of navigation in the Taiwan Strait.
"Regarding the situation around the Taiwan Strait, there is no need for me to elaborate further on who is the so-called troublemaker," he told reporters Wednesday.
"All neighbouring countries should have a very deep understanding of this".
Washington's latest passage through the Taiwan Strait was the first time since US President Donald Trump took office in January.
It came after Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said on Friday they "opposed any attempts to unilaterally change the status quo (in the Taiwan Strait) by force or coercion".
Data published by the Taiwan defence ministry showed 62 Chinese military aircraft were detected near the island in the 48 hours to 6:00 am local time on Wednesday, coinciding with the US ships' transit.
"We have monitored the situation and responded accordingly," the ministry said in a statement.
Taiwan is a potential flashpoint for a war between China and the United States, which is the island's most important backer and biggest arms supplier.
In recent years, Beijing has ramped up political and military pressure on Taipei to accept its sovereignty claims, and staged multiple rounds of large-scale war games since President Lai Ching-te took office in May.
A record 153 aircraft were reported on October 15 after China staged large-scale military drills in response to Lai's National Day speech days earlier.
A week after China's drills, a US and a Canadian warship sailed through the Taiwan Strait separating the island and China.
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