China says it has put its navy and air force on notice after US Navy vessels went through the Taiwan Strait this week. Newsweek contacted the US Department of Defense and the US military’s Indo-Pacific Command via email for comment. Why It Matters China claims Taiwan to be its territory, despite the fact that the Chinese Communist Party has never ruled the island, and views transits by US and ally warships through the Taiwan Strait as provocations. Under international maritime law, waterways outside China’s and Taiwan’s territorial zones are considered high seas, allowing for freedom of navigation.

The United States and its allies frequently send warships across the strait to assert this claim. This week’s transit looks to be the first during President Donald Trump’s administration, and it occurs amid ongoing cross-strait tensions between Beijing and Taipei. What to Know According to a statement from China’s Defense Ministry, the guided missile destroyer USS Ralph Johnson and a noncommissioned oceanographic survey ship, the USNS Bowditch, passed through the strait Monday through Wednesday.

Taiwan’s Defense Ministry issued a statement on X (previously Twitter) citing the US ships’ north-to-south passage but emphasized that the situation remained regular. The Ralph Johnson had last passed through the river in August. According to a database maintained by Collin Koh, a senior fellow at Singapore’s Institute of Defense and Strategic Studies, the United States carried out eight such operations in the Taiwan Strait in 2018.

Five of these transits involved warships, including a joint voyage with the Canadian frigate HMCS Vancouver. The remaining three missions were carried out by US Navy P-8A Poseidon patrol and surveillance aircraft. What People are Saying Commander Matthew Comer, Indo-Pacific Command spokeswoman, told Reuters that the transit took place through a corridor in the Taiwan Strait that is beyond any coastal state’s territorial waters. Within this corridor, all nations have high-seas freedom of navigation, overflight, and other internationally lawful uses of the sea associated with the sea related to these freedoms.”

Guo Jiakun, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson, stated at a press conference that “the Chinese side firmly opposes any attempt by any country to make provocations and threaten China’s sovereignty and security under the pretext of freedom of navigation.” What Happens Next? The Navy will probably certainly continue to dispatch warships through the Taiwan Strait. China is likely to continue to put pressure on Taiwanese forces with near-daily air and naval operations around the island. Taiwan’s Defense Ministry stated on X that it had detected seven People’s Liberation Army ships and 30 warplanes in the strait, with 23 of the planes breaching the median line–the de facto border between the two neighbors.