The Diplomat:
This weekend, two U.S. warships conducted a lawful transit of the Taiwan Strait, the waterway separating mainland China from Taiwan. Two U.S. Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyers homeported in Japan, USS Mustin and USS Benfold, transited the strait.
Under circumstances anywhere else, the lawful passage of warships through the high seas shouldn’t be news, but the geopolitical circumstances of the Taiwan Strait ensure that any U.S. warship presence in the area draws scrutiny.
“Two U.S. Navy ships conducted a routine transit through the international waters of the Taiwan Strait on July 7-8,” a spokesperson for the U.S. Pacific Fleet noted in a statement released to the U.S. Naval Institute News. “U.S. Navy ships transit between the South China Sea and East China Sea via the Taiwan Strait and have done so for many years.”
