TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — A U.S. Navy guided-missile destroyer and a Royal Canadian Navy frigate patrolled the Taiwan Strait on Tuesday (Sept. 20).

The U.S. Navy's Seventh Fleet on Tuesday announced that Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer the USS Higgins (DDG 76) and the Royal Canadian Navy Halifax-class frigate HMCS Vancouver (FFH 331) had "conducted a routine Taiwan Strait transit" that day "through waters where high seas freedoms of navigation and overflight apply in accordance with international law." Alluding to China's claim over the body of water, it stated that the strait is "beyond the territorial sea of any coastal State."

The Seventh Fleet emphasized that the warships' passage "demonstrates the U.S. commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific." The statement added that the transit represents the "centerpiece of our approach to a secure and prosperous region."

The patrol comes in the wake of U.S. President Joe Biden's pledge during a 60 Minutes interview that the U.S. would send its forces to defend Taiwan "if in fact there was an unprecedented attack." When asked by host Scott Pelley to clarify that the U.S. would "defend Taiwan in the event of a Chinese invasion," Biden definitively said "Yes," however, the White House clarified after the interview that Washington policy toward Taiwan had not changed.

Tuesday's mission follows a pattern in recent years of warships of allies, such as the U.K. and Canada, occasionally accompanying U.S. military vessels through the strait. On Oct. 14-15, 2021, the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Dewey and the Canadian Halifax-class frigate HMCS Winnipeg passed through the Taiwan Strait together.