US Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS John S. McCain yesterday transited through the Taiwan Strait, a first for US President Joe Biden’s administration and for the year, official sources said.
The Ministry of National Defense in a statement confirmed the passage of a US warship believed to be conducting a routine navigation mission, but did not give details.
The government usually does not reveal the name of a US warship sailing through the Strait or its class.
Photo courtesy of US 7th Fleet’s Web site
The ship’s passage was “normal” and the military continues to monitor Taiwan’s air and sea space through “joint intelligence, surveillance reconnaissance measures,” the ministry said.
The US Navy Seventh Fleet later confirmed the statement, saying that the John S. McCain “conducted a routine Taiwan Strait transit Feb. 4 (local time) in accordance with international law.”
“The ship’s transit through the Taiwan Strait demonstrates the US commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific,” the Seventh Fleet said. “The United States military will continue to fly, sail and operate anywhere international law allows.”
The John S. McCain was one of two warships to transit the Strait on New Year’s Eve last year when it was accompanied by another Arleigh Burke-class destroyer, the USS Curtis Wilbur.
According to South China Sea Strategic Situation Probing Initiative, a platform run by Peking University’s Institute of Ocean Research, US warships sailed through the Taiwan Strait 13 times last year, the highest number of operations in the Strait in 14 years.
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