US Sends Fleet Destroyer Through Taiwan Strait, China Sends Warning

‘The United States military flies, sails, and operates anywhere international law allows,’ U.S. Navy’s 7th Fleet stated.

The Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Ralph Johnson (DDG 114) conducts routine underway operations in the Taiwan Strait on Sept. 9, 2023. Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Jamaal Liddell/U.S. Navy via AP

The U.S. Navy’s 7th Fleet said that the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Ralph Johnson passed through the Taiwan Strait on Aug. 22, prompting a warning from China.

The strait is a narrow waterway separating China and Taiwan by about 80 miles, where the Chinese military has been regularly conducting exercises while increasing its rhetoric about seizing Taiwan.