CNN:
(CNN)The US Navy sailed two warships through the Taiwan Strait Monday, a show of force that is bound to irritate Beijing and comes amid heightened US-China tensions on a range of issues. The USS Antietam, a guided missile cruiser, and the USS Curtis Wilbur, a guided missile destroyer, transited the strait Monday, sailing from south to north.
“USS Curtis Wilbur and USS Antietam conducted a routine Taiwan Strait Transit on October 22, in accordance with international law,” Cmdr. Nate Christensen, a spokesman for US Pacific Fleet, told CNN.
“The ships’ transit through the Taiwan Strait demonstrates the US commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific,” he added. Two US defense officials told CNN that multiple Chinese warships shadowed the two US vessels during the transit, following at a distance considered to be safe.
