An American warship sailed through a narrow sea corridor between China and Taiwan on Wednesday, Newsweek has learned, in a subtle show of force by the Trump administration amid geopolitical and trade tensions with Beijing.
The USS William P. Lawrence, and Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer “conducted a routine Taiwan Strait transit April 23 (local time) through waters where freedoms of navigation and overflight apply in accordance with international law,” a spokesperson for the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command told Newsweek in an email.
Why It Matters
Beijing says self-ruled Taiwan is part of Chinese territory, a position the island’s government—and a large majority of its citizens—reject. The United States has no formal diplomatic ties with Taipei but is its main arms supplier.
Washington officially takes no position on sovereignty over Taiwan and acknowledges—without recognizing—Beijing’s claim. The U.S. has repeatedly said it opposes unilateral changes to the status quo across the Taiwan Strait, at a time when China has been ramping up military activities there, including through large-scale drills simulating a blockade.
“The ship transited through a corridor in the strait that is beyond the territorial sea of any coastal state,” the INDOPACOM spokesperson said. “William P. Lawrence’s transit through the Taiwan Strait demonstrates the United States’ commitment to upholding freedom of navigation for all nations as a principle.”
In a statement released Thursday, the People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command said it had dispatched naval and air forces to monitor the American ship’s movements. An accompanying video showed a Chinese navy sailor watching the William P. Lawrence from its starboard side.
Taipei is yet to officially acknowledge the incident. Taiwan’s Defense Ministry said it had “no relevant information” to provide at the time.
Taipei said it had detected 19 Chinese warplanes and seven Chinese warships operating around Taiwan in the 24 hours leading up to 6 a.m. local time Thursday. The Chinese military presence did not appear larger than usual.
Also at the time of the transit, a U.S. Navy MQ-4C Triton reconnaissance drone—operating out of Guam’s Anderson Air Force Base—was loitering south of the Taiwan Strait, according to data recorded by aircraft-tracking service Flightradar24.
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