TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — A U.S. Navy destroyer carried out a “routine” transit through the Taiwan Strait on Tuesday (May 18), marking the fifth such passage under the Biden administration.
The Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Curtis Wilbur (DDG 54) “conducted a routine Taiwan Strait transit May 18 (local time) in accordance with international law,” according to a U.S. 7th Fleet press release.
The passage reaffirms the U.S.' “commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific,” it added, stressing that “The United States military will continue to fly, sail, and operate anywhere international law allows.”
The U.S. Navy had conducted four previous transits through the strait since U.S. President Joe Biden took office: the USS John McCain on Feb. 4, the USS Curtis Wilbur on Feb. 24, the USS John Finn on March 10, and the USS John McCain on April 7.
As relations between Taipei and Washington have improved over the past year, Beijing has intensified its aggressive posture toward the former by stepping up its gray zone tactics, carrying out military exercises in the region, and regularly sending military aircraft into Taiwan’s air defense identification zone.
