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US 7th Fleet says its warships transiting Taiwan Strait

Reports of the transit by US warships were also confirmed by the Taiwanese Defense Ministry

HONG KONG/XIANGGANG, August 25. /TASS/. Two US warship on Sunday are sailing through the Taiwan Strait on Sunday, the US 7th Fleet said.

"Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruisers USS Antietam (CG 54) and USS Chancellorsville (CG 62) are conducting a routine Taiwan Strait transit August 28 (local time) through waters where high seas freedoms of navigation and overflight apply in accordance with international law," the fleet said in a statement.

"The ship’s transit through the Taiwan Strait demonstrates the United States' commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific," the statement said. "The United States military flies, sails, and operates anywhere international law allows."

Reports of the transit by US warships were also confirmed by the Taiwanese Defense Ministry. The naval cruisers were bound south, the ministry said.

This is the first such transit since US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi traveled to Taiwan on August 2-3, worsening relations between Washington and Beijing.

China said its armed forces were on high alert are were ready to foil any provocations.

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