The guided-missile cruiser USS Chancellorsville (CG 62) transits the Philippine Sea, June 18, 2016. The U.S. Navy is sailing the USS Chancellorsville and the USS Antietam warships through the Taiwan Strait Sunday, Aug. 28, 2022, in the first such transit publicized since U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan earlier in August.
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UPDATED 6:48 PM PT – Monday, August 29, 2022
Tensions with China over Taiwan continue to escalate as the Pentagon sends US warships into the Taiwan Strait.
The @USNavy‘s #USSAntietam and #USSChancellorsville 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.
Read more here:https://t.co/3nIGSmuWsh pic.twitter.com/lTbVpn4U8g
— 7th Fleet (@US7thFleet) August 28, 2022
According to reports on Sunday, USS Antietam and USS Chancellorsville have sailed through the Taiwan Strait for the first time since House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-Calif.) visit. The US Seventh-Fleet said the move was ‘a routine transit’ to ensure ‘freedom of navigation’. Chinese diplomats have been opposed to US-Taiwanese cooperation by saying it poses a risk of military escalation.
In the meantime, a number of prominent public figures are voicing opposition to provoking China. Roger Waters, the co-founder of Pink Floyd shared his thoughts on the topic.
“The Chinese can’t encircle Taiwan,” Waters said. “Taiwan is part of China. And we’ve all completely accepted that for the last fifty years. The whole world has accepted. The encircling that’s going on is the encircling of China by the United States of America and their attempts now to push NATO into the South China Sea. It is so provocative.”
A number of US lawmakers have visited Taiwan following Pelosi’s trip.
Taiwan is our strongest partner in the Indo-Pacific Region.
It was my honor to meet with President @iingwen in Taipei to reaffirm my support for Taiwan’s freedom and future success.
That’s why in the Senate, I’m working to ensure Taiwan has the capacity to defend itself.
— Sen. Marsha Blackburn (@MarshaBlackburn) August 27, 2022
These visits have sparked additional condemnation and threats of retaliation by the Chinese Communist Party.