Two U.S. Navy warships transited the Taiwan Strait on Sunday ¡ª the first such sailings since China held massive military exercises around Taiwan in response to a visit to the self-ruled island by U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
The guided-missile cruisers USS Antietam and USS Chancellorsville conducted ¡°a routine Taiwan Strait transit ... through waters where high seas freedoms of navigation and overflight apply in accordance with international law,¡± a U.S. Navy 7th Fleet spokesperson told The Japan Times. ¡°These ships transited through a corridor in the Strait that is beyond the territorial sea of any coastal State.¡±
The 7th Fleet said the ship¡¯s transit through the Taiwan Strait ¡°demonstrates the United States¡¯ commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific. The United States military flies, sails, and operates anywhere international law allows.¡±
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