“The Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Chung-Hoon conducted a routine Taiwan Strait transit Jan. 5 (local time) through waters where high-seas freedoms of navigation and overflight apply in accordance with international law,” the 7th Fleet Public Affairs said in a press release. “Chung-Hoon’s transit through the Taiwan Strait demonstrates the United States’ commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific.”
In December, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin urged the United States to abide by the One-China principle and the provisions of the three joint China-US communiques, earnestly implement its promise not to support the "Taiwan independence," stop selling arms to Taiwan, cut US-Taiwan military ties and stop creating new tensions across the Taiwan Strait.
The situation around Taiwan escalated after US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited the island in early August. Beijing condemned Pelosi's trip, which it regarded as a gesture of support for separatism, and launched large-scale military exercises in the vicinity of the island. Despite this fact, several countries, including France, Japan and others, have sent their delegations to the island since then, further increasing tensions in the Taiwan Strait.
Taiwan has been governed independently from mainland China since 1949. Beijing views the island as its province, while Taiwan maintains that it is autonomous but stops short of declaring independence. Beijing opposes any official contact of foreign states with Taipei and considers Chinese sovereignty over the island indisputable.