AFP — Thursday 4 February 2021
A US warship sailed through the Taiwan Strait on Thursday in the first such voyage since the inauguration of President Joe Biden. The USS John S. McCain conducted a routine transit through the waterway, which the US Seventh Fleet said “demonstrates the US commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific.” Beijing said it was “closely monitoring” the situation and would “resolutely safeguard its sovereignty and territorial integrity.” The transit comes after two US reconnaissance planes and one jet tanker flew near Taiwan’s airspace the previous Monday. Last year Chinese military jets made a record 380 incursions into Taiwan’s defence zone.