China on high alert after US Navy warships pass through Taiwan strait
Chinese armed forces are on high alert to halt any provocations after the US Navy cruisers went through the Taiwan Strait.
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USS Chancellorsville guided-missile cruiser transits the Taiwan Strait during routine operations on Sunday. | US NAVY
A spokesman for the Eastern Theater Command of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA), Shi Yi, said on Sunday that the Chinese armed forces are on high alert to halt any provocations after the US Navy cruisers went through the Taiwan Strait.
"The US Navy cruisers Chancellorsville and Antietam made the passage through the Taiwan Strait on August 28, causing widespread attention. The PLA Eastern Theater Command escorted the US cruisers and exercised full control over their activities. Command units are on heightened alert to stop any provocations in a timely manner," the spokesman said in a statement on WeChat.
Read next: China announces military drills near Taiwan as US delegation arrives
Earlier in the day, two US Navy ships passed through the Taiwan Strait for the first time since the US-China tensions escalated in response to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's visit to Taiwan, reported Reuters, citing three US officials.
The guided-missile cruisers USS Antietam and USS Chancellorsville set sail on Sunday "through waters where high seas freedoms of navigation and overflight apply in accordance with international law," according to the US 7th Fleet in Japan.
In a statement, the US Navy claimed that the transit "demonstrates the United States' commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific."
" The United States military flies, sails, and operates anywhere international law allows," it added.
US pokes China with provocative visits to Taiwan
Moreover, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson said on Friday that China strongly opposes a US lawmaker's visit to Taiwan.
Amid high tensions with China, Tennessee Republican Senator Marsha Blackburn is on a visit to Taiwan from August 25 to 27, as per Xinhua.
Responding to a media query, the spokesperson stated that the US legislator's visit to Taiwan violates the One-China policy and the provisions of the three China-US joint communiqués, as well as the US commitment to maintain only non-official ties with Taiwan.
This comes after a US congressional delegation arrived in Taiwan, Washington's de facto embassy in Taipei said in a statement. The delegation visited Taiwan after US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's visit to the island.
Read next: China to hold live-fire drills in East China Sea on August 23-24
Days after US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's provocative visit to the island, which heightened tensions between the two countries, China reportedly conducted new military drills surrounding Taiwan.
China announced that it will no longer work with the United States on a number of areas, including climate change, drug policy, and military negotiations, as a result of Pelosi's visit.
Only weeks after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's inflammatory trip, a group of US legislators visited the island again and spoke with Taipei's leader. In reaction, China launched new military exercises around Taiwan.
Beijing dispatched warships, missiles, and fighter jets into the waters and sky surrounding Taiwan during the two-day covert visit.
