Beijing held a military drill targeting Taiwan and described the United States as the “biggest troublemaker” in the region as a US destroyer sailed through the Taiwan Strait on Friday in the ninth such passage by American warships this year.
The Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer USS Barry conducted a “routine Taiwan Strait transit” on Friday, a statement from the US Navy’s Seventh Fleet said.
“The ship’s transit through the Taiwan Strait demonstrates the US commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific”, it said, adding that the US military “flies, sails, and operates anywhere international law allows”.