![A Chinese fighter jet heads to the Taiwan Strait for air patrols. [Chinese Defense Ministry]](/gc9/images/2025/02/14/49176-01_china_j-10-370_237.webp)
By Wu Qiaoxi |
TAIPEI -- US warships passed through the Taiwan Strait in February as China continues to escalate military pressure around Taiwan.
The Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Ralph Johnson and the oceanographic survey ship USNS Bowditch sailed through the strait February 10-12, USNI News reported, citing a statement from US Indo-Pacific Command (INDOPACOM).
Taiwan's National Defense Ministry (MND) confirmed the US warships' passage through the Taiwan Strait from north to south since February 10, adding that it monitored "the various movements of the PLA [People's Liberation Army]."
"Ships transit between the East China Sea and the South China Sea via the Taiwan Strait and have done so for many years," INDOPACOM said in its statement.
"The transit occurred through a corridor in the Taiwan Strait that is beyond any coastal state's territorial seas."
"Within this corridor all nations enjoy high-seas freedom of navigation, overflight, and other internationally lawful uses of the sea related to these freedoms," it added.
The Chinese government has consistently claimed Taiwan as part of its territory and has not ruled out the use of force to achieve unification.
Since Taiwan President Lai Ching-te took office last May, China has conducted multiple large-scale military exercises around the Taiwan Strait.
Chinese aggression
The latest transit came amid increased Chinese military activity in the strait.
From February 10 to 12, the PLA dispatched a total of 62 military aircraft sorties within 48 hours in the vicinity of the Taiwan Strait, the Taiwanese MND said.
Out of the 62 aircraft sorties, 45 crossed the median line of the strait and entered Taiwan's northern, southwestern and eastern airspace, according to the MND.
Taiwan's military also detected eight PLA naval vessels and a Chinese government vessel operating near the Taiwan Strait during the same period.
The Chinese military is conducting "routine patrols and surveillance" in the Taiwan Strait to maintain regional peace and stability, said Senior Capt. Li Xi, a spokesperson for the PLA Eastern Theater Command.
On February 12, China's CCTV aired footage of the PLA's Huai Bei Frigate conducting a combat-readiness patrol around Taiwan.
The broadcast described it as "a real-world military exercise conducted by the Huai Bei Frigate during the Lantern Festival."