US warship sails through Taiwan Strait following China war games
A US warship has sailed through the Taiwan Strait in what the country's navy described as a routine transit, just days after China ended its latest war games around the island.
In a statement on Monday, the United States Navy's 7th Fleet said the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Milius sailed through the Taiwan Strait on Sunday.
The warship conducted a 'routine Taiwan Strait transit' through waters 'where high-seas freedoms of navigation and overflight apply in accordance with international law', it said.
China said on Monday that it had tracked a US warship through the Taiwan Strait, adding that Washington had 'hyped up' the transit.
Colonel Shi Yi, a Chinese military spokesperson, said troops in the area 'remain on a high level of alert at all times and will resolutely defend national sovereignty and security as well as regional peace and stability'.
China claims Taiwan as its territory and has vowed to bring the island under its control one day. It also claims the entire Taiwan Strait as its territorial waters.
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