Stars and Stripes:

The USS Curtis Wilbur sailed through the Taiwan Strait on Wednesday, the second time this month the Navy has sent a warship through the contentious waterway.

The guided-missile destroyer, homeported in Yokosuka, made the trip to “demonstrate the U.S. commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific,” 7th Fleet spokesman Lt. Joe Keiley said in the statement Thursday.

The 110-mile-wide strait separates mainland China from self-governed Taiwan. Beijing considers reunification a top priority and regularly protests Taiwan Strait transits, claiming foreign vessels must first ask permission before passing through…

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