The US’ Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer the USS John Finn and Pathfinder-class oceanographic survey ship USNS Mary Sears on Friday and Saturday sailed through the Taiwan Strait, the US Navy’s Seventh Fleet said.
“USS John Finn and Pathfinder-class survey ship USNS Mary Sears conducted a routine Taiwan Strait transit Jan. 16 to 17 through waters where high-seas freedoms of navigation and overflight apply in accordance with international law. The ships transited through a corridor in the Strait that is beyond the territorial sea of any coastal state,” a US Naval Institute report quoted the statement as saying.
“The transit through the Taiwan Strait demonstrates the US’ commitment to upholding freedom of navigation for all nations as a principle. The international community’s navigational rights and freedoms in the Taiwan Strait should not be limited. The US rejects any assertion of sovereignty or jurisdiction that is inconsistent with freedoms of navigation, overflight, and other lawful uses of the sea and air,” it added.
Photo: Screen grab from USS John Finn’s Facebook page
This is the fourth time during US President Donald Trump’s second term that a US warship has sailed through the Taiwan Strait.
The Ministry of National Defense said it had monitored and controlled the maritime and air dynamics around Taiwan using joint intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance methods.
The Chinese military on its official WeChat account said it also monitored the transit.
China’s People’s Liberation Army Eastern Theater Command spokesman Xu Chenghua (徐承華) said that the command’s troops would “remain on high alert at all times, resolutely defend national sovereignty and security, and maintain regional peace and stability.”
Additional reporting by Reuters
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