2 US Navy warships sail through Taiwan Strait, ‘face no unsafe interactions’

The US military sent two Navy warships through the Taiwan Strait on Sunday. The Pentagon is increasing the frequency of movement through the strategic waterway, and the voyage risks further raising tensions with China.

The two destroyers were identified as the William P. Lawrence and Stethem, Reuters reports. “The ships’ transit through the Taiwan Strait demonstrates the US commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific,” said Commander Clay Doss, a spokesman for the US Navy’s Seventh Fleet.

Doss added that there were no unsafe or unprofessional interactions with other countries’ vessels during the transit. Taiwan’s Defense Ministry said the US ships had sailed north through the strait.