The US has sent two Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruisers – the USS Antietam and the USS Chancellorsville – through the Taiwan Strait in a demonstration of freedom of navigation through international waters. The 100 mile-wide (160 kilometer-wide) strait divides Taiwan from China. 

The BBC reports that the voyage is the first such operation to take place since tensions between Taiwan and China increased following a visit by US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to Taiwan earlier this month.

The US and other Western navies have routinely sailed through the strait in recent years. Several weeks prior to Ms Pelosi’s visit, the USS Benfold (DDG-65) transited the Taiwan Strait.

China reacted to Ms Pelosi’s visit by holding military drills in the area. On Sunday, Taiwan’s defence ministry says it detected 23 Chinese aircraft and eight Chinese ships operating around Taiwan. Among the detected aircraft, seven crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait – an unofficial barrier between Taiwan and China.

Beijing views the freedom of navigation operation as provocative and maintains that the island of Taiwan is an integral part of Chinese territory.

Thanks to Alaric Bond for contributing to this post.