Taiwan’s military reports that a Chinese warship and a US destroyer were both off the southeast coast of Taiwan around the same time on Thursday.
The US Navy announced Wednesday that the guided-missile destroyer USS John Finn had carried out a “routine Taiwan Strait transit” in line with international law. Taiwan’s defense ministry confirmed that the US destroyer had traversed through the strait. It was the third passage of US ships through the Taiwan Strait since US President Joe Biden took office in January.
By noon on Thursday, the US vessel was spotted 40 miles southeast of Orchid Island, while the Chinese destroyer Jinan was seen in nearby waters at the same time.
The two ships continued to sail eastward before leaving Taiwan waters at 8pm on Thursday.