China tracks US warship’s passage through Taiwan Strait

ISTANBUL

China on Thursday said it tracked the passage of a US warship through the Taiwan Strait.

The Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Ralph Johnson (DDG 114) conducted a routine transit in the Taiwan Strait through waters “where high-seas freedom of navigation and overflight apply in accordance with international law,” said the US military’s 7th Fleet Public Affairs.

7th Fleet of the US military is deployed in the Asia-Pacific.

It added that the ship had transited through a corridor in the strait that “is beyond the territorial sea of any coastal state.”

A spokesman from the Chinese military said the Eastern Theater Command of the People's Liberation Army had “tracked and monitored” the USS Ralph Johnson throughout its passage through the Taiwan Strait.

Ralph Johnson’s transit through the Taiwan Strait “demonstrates the United States’ commitment to upholding freedom of navigation for all nations as a principle,” the US military noted.

“No member of the international community should be intimidated or coerced into giving up their rights and freedoms,” it added.