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US expected to dispatch warships to pass through Taiwan Strait

If the rumor is true, then it will be the second time U.S. Navy vessels pass through the waterway within a year.

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US expected to dispatch warships to pass through Taiwan Strait

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) - Following U.S. Vice President Mike Pence's accusations against China of political meddling, as well as asserting international rights to freedom of navigation in the South China Sea, in a stinging speech earlier this month, a report disclosed that Washington is considering sending warships through the Taiwan Strait again.

The operation is said to ensure the country's free passage through the strategic waterway, according to a Reuters report on Saturday.

In early July, two U.S. Navy vessels - DDG-89 and DDG-65, crossed into the Taiwan Straits from the south, and that was the first time since the George W. Bush administration in 2007 that Washington had sent a ship through the Taiwan Strait. according to CNA.

Also, an Royal Australian Navy vessel armed with guided missiles reportedly sailed through the Taiwan Strait in late-September as a show of regional solidarity, two months after the two US vessels navigated the same route, according to a The Australian report on Friday.

The timing for the new USN passage through the strait is not mentioned in the report.

Separately, U.S. aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman is operating in the Arctic Circle for the first time after the Cold War ended, confirmed the U.S. Department of Defense. Japan's Kyodo News reported on Saturday that the move is intended to demonstrate the USN's military capabilities in the region in front of Russia and China, and it is likely to raise an eyebrow in China, as Beijing is dedicated to developing a Polar Silk Road.