A United States Navy destroyer sailed through the Taiwan Strait Saturday to show the nation’s “commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific,” the 7th Fleet under the U.S. Pacific Command said in a statement.

The Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Ralph Johnson (DDG 114) conducted a “routine” transit in the Taiwan Strait through international waters in accordance with international law, the statement said.

“The ship’s transit through the Taiwan Strait demonstrates the United States’ commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific,” it said, adding that the U.S. military “flies, sails, and operates anywhere international law allows.”

Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense (MND) later confirmed the transit, saying in a statement that the military had a full grasp of the situation as the U.S. warship sailed through the strait northward, and did not spot any irregularities.

Earlier in the day, the Chinese think tank, South China Sea Strategic Situation Probing Initiative, reported that the U.S. warship was sailing through the strait with a Navy reconnaissance aircraft providing support from the south, but the report has yet to be officially verified.

According to the U.S. military, the last time the U.S. Navy conducted a similar navigation was last month, when the USS Dewey (DDG-105), an Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer, sailed through the Taiwan Strait on Jan. 22.

U.S. Navy ships sail through the Taiwan Strait routinely, but Saturday’s transit came at a time when the crisis in Ukraine continues to unfold. Russia commenced military operations in Ukraine on Thursday in what Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy characterized as a full-scale invasion.

Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel