The U.S. Navy Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer USS John S. McCain has again transited the Taiwan Strait in the first freedom of navigation operation under the Joe Biden administration.

Its passage Thursday sends a clear signal to China the U.S. won't back off from confronting China to ensure freedom of navigation on the high seas. It was the 14th transit of the Taiwan Strait since 2020 by a U.S. warship, the U.S. 7th Fleet based in Hawaii said.

"The ship's transit through the strait demonstrates the U.S. commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific," said Lt. Joe Keiley, a representative for the fleet.

"The U.S. military will continue to fly, sail and operate anywhere international law allows."

Of the 14 transits since 2020 two were conducted by McCain. On new year's eve, the destroyer and the USS Curtis Wilbur completed a rare two-ship passage of the strait separating Taiwan from mainland China.

China's Ministry of Defense said the unopposed transit of the strait indicates the "incumbent U.S. administration's desperate destructive acts."

McCain has been the most active in challenging maritime claims by China and Russia.

On Dec. 22 the McCain sailed near the Spratly Islands, which Taiwan, China and Vietnam claim to own. On Dec. 24 she appeared off Vietnam in the vicinity of the Con Dao Islands in the South China Sea.

In August 2017, McCain sailed to within 11 kilometers of Mischief Reef in the Spratly Islands, a Philippine island seized by China in the South China Sea. China expressed its "strong dissatisfaction" to the McCain's incursion.