U.S. 7th Fleet Destroyer Transits Taiwan Strait Again

On May 10, local time, the official website of the U.S. Seventh Fleet issued a news release, saying that the fleet’s Ticonderog-class guided-missile cruiser USS Port Royal conducted a routine Taiwan Strait transit, which was a navigation through international waters in accordance with international law. The statement said Port Royal’s transit through the Taiwan Strait underscores the U.S.’s commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific. The U.S. military flew, sailed, and operated anywhere international law allowed.

The fleet website also showed that its Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Sampson conducted a routine transit of Taiwan Strait on Apr 26th, and this was the second time that the U.S. warship carried out the task cruising in Taiwan Strait within 2 weeks.

Japanese Defense Ministry previously found a CCP’s flotilla of 7 warships led by the aircraft carrier Liaoning entered the Pacific Ocean after passing through the Miyako Strait on May 2nd. On the same day, some Taiwanese fishing boats also spotted carrier Liaoning while operating in the adjacent waters of the Senkaku Islands. The CCP’s PLA’s Eastern Theater confirmed on the 9th that from the 6th to the 8th, the Eastern Theater organized sea, air, and standing guide forces to conduct live exercises in the sea and air east and southwest of Taiwan.

Analysts believe that CCP has conducted several joint air-sea maneuvers in waters to the east and southwest of Taiwan since last year, posing a growing threat to Taiwan and Japan. The U.S. forces’ increasing patrols and raising alerts around Taiwan underscores the strategic importance of confrontation with the CCP.