China calls the action a provocation.
The United States Navy sailed the USS John Finn, a Burke-class guided-missile destroyer, through the Taiwan Strait this week. It is the first reported transit by an American warship this year.
According to a spokesperson for the Seventh Fleet, the Finn steamed southwest from the East China Sea to the South China Sea, a transit that took some 13 hours, on Wednesday.
China monitored the ship’s passage and immediately labeled the actions of the warship “provocative.”
A spokesperson for China’s Eastern Theater Command said, “Recently, the U.S. military has frequently carried out provocative actions and maliciously undermined regional peace and stability.” They added that China’s troops “remain on high alert at all times.”
The Seventh Fleet spokesperson said the ship’s passage was intended to demonstrate the U.S. “commitment to upholding the lawful use of international waters for all nations as a principle” and to “oppose any attempt to unilaterally change the status quo and undermine the rules-based international order” in the region.
As the Lord Leads, Pray with Us…
- For Vice Admiral Karl Thomas to receive God’s guidance as he commands the U.S. Seventh Fleet.
- For wisdom for the president and leaders in the Pentagon as they seek to protect the navigation of international waters in the Indo-Pacific.
Sources: Reuters, Stars & Stripes, Fox News
