China's military accused the US of undermining regional peace and security after sending a destroyer through the Taiwan Strait on Tuesday as part of a routine freedom of navigation exercise.
The Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) Eastern Theater Command accused the US of "provocative" naval activities. "This move sends the wrong signal to Taiwan's independence forces," the PLA Eastern Theater Command said Wednesday, as quoted by Al Jazeera.
The US routinely sends destroyers through the Taiwan Strait, although sometimes other allies such as France send naval patrol boats instead.
A waterway in the 180km-wide South China Sea separates China from Taiwan and its outlying islands, all of which Beijing claims as sovereign territory.
Meanwhile, the US considers the Taiwan Strait as international waters.
The US Navy's 7th Fleet said the destroyer USS Sampson sailed north to south through the Taiwan Strait on Tuesday.
"The ship's transit through the Taiwan Strait demonstrates the United States' commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific," the 7th Fleet said in a statement.
"The United States military flies, sails and operates wherever international law allows," the 7th Fleet said, as reported by Al Jazeera.
Taiwan's Defense Ministry also confirmed the US destroyer was sailing from north to south as part of a "routine" patrol.
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