The US Navy's 7th Fleet operating in the Asia-Pacific reports the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Higgins (DDG 76) and the Royal Canadian Navy's Halifax-class frigate HMCS Vancouver (FFH 331) passed through a "routine" transit of the Taiwan Strait on Sunday.
The US 7th Fleet statement said the warships moved through a "high seas corridor in the strait that is beyond the territorial waters of any coastal state.

The voyage was also deemed to have "demonstrated the commitment of both countries to uphold freedom of navigation for all nations as a principle," the statement said.

"This view is contrary to any claim of sovereignty or jurisdiction inconsistent with freedom of navigation, overflight, and other legal uses of sea and air," the US military said, asserting that the international community rights in the Taiwan Strait "should not be abridged.".

But China's military said the US and Canadian warships' passage "disrupted the peace and stability of the Taiwan Strait."

"China is always on high alert at all times and resolutely safeguards national sovereignty and security, as well as regional peace and stability," said Li Xi, spokesman for the Eastern Theater Command of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA).

Li added that the naval and air forces organized by the command "closely followed and monitored the vessels' passage through the strait, addressing the situation in accordance with laws and regulations.".

Taiwan's Defense Ministry also confirmed the voyage saying the warships went north through the Taiwan Strait on Sunday from the south. The Taiwanese armed forces "sustained the command of sea and air in the surrounding areas and that the situation was normal," it said on its social media platform X.