United States Navy Destroyer USS Sampson transited through the Taiwan Strait on Tuesday. Taiwan’s defense ministry and US Navy officials confirmed the maneuver. The defense ministry says it monitored the USS Sampson as it traveled northward through the waters between Taiwan and China.
China strongly objects to US military vessels passing through the Taiwan Strait. The Chinese authorities called the last such maneuver, at the end of February, a "provocative" move.
The United States’ Seventh Fleet said that the USS Sampson traveled through the Taiwan Strait as part of a routine exercise. It says the Sampson’s course was “in accordance with international law.” The Sampson is part of the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier strike group.
The Seventh Fleet says that the vessel’s transit through the Taiwan Strait demonstrates the US’s commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific.