US Navy warship transits Taiwan Strait as PLA starts live-fire drills

American destroyer’s mission comes a week before Taiwanese president officially starts second term in office

Increased military activity in the region could have unintended consequences but unlikely to lead to direct conflict, observer says

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The guided-missile destroyer USS McCampbell made a transit through the Taiwan Strait on Thursday. Photo: US Navy

Published: 6:00pm, 14 May 2020Updated: 11:27pm, 14 May 2020

The United States sent a warship through the Taiwan Strait on Thursday as the Chinese military embarked on more than two months of live-fire naval drills off the mainland’s northern coast.

The passage by the USS McCampbell was the sixth through the strait by a US Navy vessel this year and comes a week before Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen, of the independence-leaning Democratic Progressive Party, is expected to be sworn in for a second term in office.

According to Taiwan’s defence ministry, the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer transited the narrow body of water separating Taiwan from mainland China from north to south “in a routine mission”.

“It is continuing its southward voyage and the military is monitoring its movement through the intelligence it has gathered,” the ministry said.

In a statement on its Facebook page, the US Pacific Fleet said the McCampbell transited the Taiwan Strait as part of ongoing operations in the Indo-Pacific.

Analysts said the passage was a response to the People’s Liberation Army’s increasing military activity near Taiwan and in the wider region.