Thu February, 2021, Age: 3 years
China’s Foreign Ministry said that it was closely monitoring U.S. naval forces operating in the South China Sea and that it was paying close attention to the USS John S. McCain, a destroyer, as it passed through the Taiwan Strait on Thursday. A spokesman for the foreign ministry said: “China has closely followed and grasped the situation of US warships passing through the Taiwan Strait. China will continue to maintain a high level of alert at all times, respond to all threats and provocations at all times, and resolutely defend national sovereignty and territorial integrity.” The U.S. Navy is conducting a “freedom of navigation” operation and said, “the ship’s transit through the Taiwan Strait demonstrates the US commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific.”