In a move that could heighten tensions between Washington and Beijing, two US Navy destroyers have sailed through the Taiwan Strait, a US Navy official has confirmed to CNN.
“US Navy ships transit between the South China Sea and East China Sea via the Taiwan Strait, and have done so for many years,” Brown said.
Beijing is perceived as sensitive to US military vessels traveling through the strait and continues to lay claim to Taiwan, a self-governed, democratic island, which it views as a breakaway province. The US Navy has not sailed an aircraft carrier in that area since 2007.
China has boosted its own military presence in the region, sailing its own aircraft carrier through the strait in January. The Chinese military also recently conducted a large-scale military exercises that analysts saw as a warning over growing ties between the United States and Taiwan.
China and Taiwan have been governed separately since the end of the Chinese Civil War nearly 70 years ago.
