Days after China encircled the island and staged an invasion, a US warship passes across the Taiwan Strait.

 

Only a few days after China finished its most recent invasion war rehearsals around the

island, the U.S. destroyer USS Milius traveled through the Taiwan Strait on Sunday, April 16, in what the U.S. Navy termed on Monday as a "routine" transit.

China, which sees Taiwan as its own territory, officially put a stop to its three days of drills last week on Monday, April 10, where it practiced blocking the island and conducting precision strikes.

China conducted the drills as a way to vent its resentment over Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen's meeting with Speaker of the House of Representatives Kevin McCarthy. China saw the meeting as an intrusion into its domestic affairs and as American support for Taiwan's independent identity from China.

China has never abandoned using force to seize control of Taiwan, which is administered democratically.

China's territorial claims are rejected by Taiwan's government, which asserts that the island's future belongs to its citizens alone.

The Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Milius made a "routine Taiwan Strait transit" on Monday, April 17, according to the U.S. Navy's 7th Fleet, via areas "where high-seas freedoms of navigation and overflight apply in accordance with international law."

In a social media statement on Monday, the Chinese military's Eastern Theatre Command stated that it had organized forces to accompany and monitor the American warship throughout its operation.

 

Around once a month, the U.S. Navy sends warships through the Taiwan Strait while also frequently carrying out similar freedom of passage operations in the disputed South China Sea.