Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser USS Chancellorsville (CG 62) transits East China Sea during routine underway operations. Credit: U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communications Specialist 2nd Class Justin Stack/Commander, U.S. 7th Fleet.

The US Navy’s two Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruisers have carried out a routine transit operations in the Taiwan Strait on 28 August.

This is the first time the US Navy has sailed through the waters in Taiwan Strait, after the US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan on 2 August.

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The US Navy claimed that the two destroyers, USS Antietam (CG 54) and USS Chancellorsville (CG 62), transited through the waters in compliance with the international laws.

In a statement, US Seventh Fleet said: “These ships transited through a corridor in the Strait that is beyond the territorial sea of any coastal State.”

The statement also said that this transit was conducted to demonstrate the nation’s commitment to an open and free Indo-Pacific.

In response to the US Navy’s latest move, the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) released a statement saying that their Eastern Theatre Command has carried out security tracking of the two US Ticonderoga-class cruisers.

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PLA Eastern Theatre Command spokesperson senior colonel Shi Yi said: “The Eastern Theatre Command of the Chinese PLA conducted security tracking and monitoring of the US warships’ passage in the whole course and had all movements of the two US warships under control.”

Shi Yi also said that the PLA Eastern Theatre Command’s troops are always on high alert to counter any provocative action.

Meanwhile, the Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defence (MND) said that the situation remained ‘normal’ throughout the US Navy’s voyage.

“During the southward voyage through the Taiwan Strait, the Taiwan military grasped the relevant dynamics of the sea and airspace around China throughout the whole process, and the situation was normal,” Taiwan MND statement added.

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