China has accused the U.S of deliberately endangering the peace in the Pacific with its continued naval actions in the Taiwan Strait.
Chinese officials said Wednesday that U.S. warships sailing through the strait are destabilizing the region.
China's Eastern Theatre Command expressed its strong opposition to the U.S. movement within the sensitive waterway that separates Taiwan and China. The agency also condemned the recent "routine" transits through the strait.
"The U.S. actions send the wrong signals to Taiwan independence forces, deliberately disrupting the regional situation and endangering peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait," the Eastern Theatre Command said.
China's statements came just a day after the U.S. Navy's Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Curtis Wilbur passed through the waterway as part of its "routine Taiwan Strait transit." The U.S. Navy's 7th Fleet said the transit was fully in accordance with international law.
"The ship's transit through the Taiwan Strait demonstrates the U.S. commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific. The United States military will continue to fly, sail, and operate anywhere international law allows," U.S. Navy officials said.
The U.S. Navy said it will continue to conduct routine transits and exercises in the region "every month or so." The U.S. is not formally an ally of Taiwan. It also doesn't have any formal diplomatic ties with the country. However, the U.S. is an important economic backer and a major seller of firearms to the island.
Chinese military officials said they were tracking and monitoring the movement of the U.S. ship throughout its voyage.
Taiwan's Defense Ministry said it was also tracking the ship. The USS Curtis Wilbur reportedly sailed in a southerly direction through the strait without incident and the situation in the sensitive waterway remains "normal."
Military tensions between Taiwan and the U.S. have escalated in recent months. Taiwan has also been ramping up its military build-up after China repeatedly sent its air force into its air defense zone, including multiple fighter jets and bombers. China claims that the flybys are aimed at protecting the country's sovereignty.
