Taiwan monitors strait transit of U.S. 7th Fleet destroyer

Taipei, March 5 (CNA) Taiwan's Ministry of National Defense (MND) said Tuesday that it monitored the passage of a United States military ship through the Taiwan Strait earlier in the day and nothing unusual was detected in nearby waters or airspace.

"Taiwan's military was totally in control of seaborne and airborne activities in adjacent areas when the U.S. vessel passed through the strait south-to-north on a routine mission," the MND said in a statement.

The statement came after the U.S. 7th Fleet Command announced on its website earlier Tuesday that its Arleigh-Burke guided missile class destroyer USS John Finn (DDG 113) performed a routine south-to-north transit through the strait on March 5, 2024.

"U.S. ships transit between the South China Sea and the East China Sea via the Taiwan Strait and have done so for many years. The transit occurred through a corridor in the Taiwan Strait that is beyond any coastal state's territorial seas," the statement said.

"Within this corridor all nations enjoy high-seas freedoms of navigation, overflight, and other internationally lawful uses of the sea related to these freedoms."

The announcement came at a sensitive time with China's annual "two sessions" gathering -- week-long meetings of the National People's Congress and the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference -- being held concurrently in Beijing from March 4-10.

These are scheduled to discuss an array of economic and security challenges and speeches given by top leadership will set the tone for national developments to tackle related issues.

The Chinese People's Liberation Army Eastern Theater responded shortly after to the U.S. destroyer passage, saying in a statement that its command organized naval and air forces to track and monitor the passing of the vessel in accordance with laws and regulations, while criticizing the U.S. for "publicly hyping" the vessel's passage.

The command's troops always maintain a high state of alert and are "ready to respond to all threats and provocations at any time," the statement said.

The destroyer last transited the Taiwan Strait on Jan. 24, 2024.

"Recently, the U.S. military has frequently carried out provocative acts and maliciously undermined regional peace and stability. The troops in the theater are on high alert at all times and resolutely defend national sovereignty," the Eastern Theater Command said at the time.

USS John Finn, a Flight IIA Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer, is part of the forward-deployed naval forces stationed in Yokosuka, Japan.