US Sends Fleet Destroyer Through Taiwan Strait, China Sends Warning

The U.S. Navy’s 7th Fleet said that the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Ralph Johnson passed through the Taiwan Strait on Aug. 22, prompting a warning from China. The strait is a narrow waterway separating China and Taiwan by about 80 miles, where the Chinese military has been regularly conducting exercises while increasing rhetoric about seizing Taiwan. The 7th Fleet stated it was a routine transit in accordance with international law. “The ship transited through a corridor in the Strait that is beyond the territorial sea of any coastal state,” the statement reads. “No member of the international community should be intimidated or coerced into giving up their rights and freedoms. The United States military flies, sails, and operates anywhere international law allows.”...