TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — A U.S. destroyer and a Canadian frigate transited the Taiwan Strait on Saturday (Sept. 9).

According to a statement from the U.S. 7th fleet, the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Ralph Johnson and the Royal Canadian Navy Halifax-class frigate HMCS Ottawa conducted a routine transit through the Taiwan Strait. Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense said the two ships sailed through the strait from north to south.

The U.S. 7th Fleet said it conducted the transit “through waters where high-seas freedoms of navigation and overflight apply in accordance with international law.” The American and Canadian ships went “through a corridor in the strait that is beyond the territorial sea of any coastal state.”

The Ralph Johnson and Ottawa’s “bilateral transit through the Taiwan Strait demonstrates the commitment of the United States and our allies and partners to a free and open Indo-Pacific.” The 7th Fleet added, “Cooperation like this represents the centerpiece of our approach to a secure and prosperous region where aircraft and ships of all nations may fly, sail, and operate anywhere international law allows."