An American warship sailed through a narrow sea corridor between China and Taiwan on Wednesday, Newsweek has learned, in a subtle show of force by the Trump administration amid U.S. geopolitical and geoeconomic tensions with Beijing.
The USS William P. Lawrence, Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer “conducted a routine Taiwan Strait transit April 23 (local time) through waters where freedoms of navigation and overflight apply in accordance with international law,” a spokesperson for the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command told Newsweek in an email.
Why It Matters
China says self-ruled Taiwan is part of Chinese territory, a position the island’s government rejects. The United States has no formal diplomatic ties with Taipei but is its mains arms supplier. Washington officially takes no position on sovereignty over Taiwan and does not recognize Beijing’s claim.
The U.S. ship’s maneuver was partially visible on vessel-tracking platforms including MarineTraffic at the time. However, there was no public acknowledgement of the activity from Beijing or Taipei at the time of publication.
April 23 is China’s Navy Day. The People’s Liberation Army is celebrating the service’s 76th anniversary.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
U.S. Navy
