The US Navy announced that the destroyer USS Chung-Hoon carried out a routine transit in the Taiwan Strait on January 5, in a move likely to infuriate China.
A statement issued by the US Navy said that the destroyer equipped with guided missiles "Arleigh Burke" crossed the waters in which freedom of navigation and overflight applies under international law.
She added that this transit "shows the United States' commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific region," stressing that its forces "fly, sail, and operate wherever international law allows."
The US administration regularly uses the term "Indo-Pacific" to refer to the Asia-Pacific region.
US warships, and sometimes vessels belonging to allies such as Britain and Canada, have sailed through the strait in recent years, angering China, which claims sovereignty over Taiwan.
arms deal
And last Friday, the US Department of Defense (The Pentagon) confirmed that Taiwan will receive "Vulcano" anti-tank systems, trucks and ammunition, as part of "Taiwan's ongoing efforts to modernize its armed forces and maintain a coherent defense capability."
The US Department of Defense said, in a statement, that the deal "will not change the basic military balance (of the region)".
China considers Taiwan an integral part of its territory and must eventually be reunited with the mainland.
The United States does not have formal diplomatic relations with Taiwan, and it adheres to a policy of "strategic ambiguity", a policy based on diplomatic recognition of the Chinese mainland and at the same time committing to supplying weapons to Taiwan to defend itself.