Provocation to China?

Two US Navy warships have passed through the Taiwan Strait in the third such operation this year, as the US military increases the frequency of transits through the strategic waterway despite opposition from China.

The US passage risks increasing already high tensions with China but will likely be viewed in self-ruled Taiwan as a sign of support from US President Donald Trump’s government amid growing friction between Beijing and Taipei.

U.S. Navy transits through the Strait that divides China and Taiwan have been rare and infrequent, but the rising pace of the transits is another indication of growing U.S. and Chinese tensions, particularly over the South China Sea.

Taiwan is only one of a growing number of flashpoints in the US-China relationship, which also include a trade war, US sanctions and China’s increasingly muscular military posture in the South China Sea.

Taiwan's defence ministry said it was a normal transit through international waters in the Taiwan Strait and Taiwan forces had monitored the passage of the ships.

China's foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said Beijing had expressed its concern over the passage to the United States.

The guided-missile destroyer USS Stockdale and the replenishment oiler USNS Pecos made a “routine” transit that “demonstrates the U.S. commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific,” Pacific Fleet spokesman Lt. Cmdr. Tim Gorman said in a statement.

"We urge the United States to cautiously and appropriately handle the Taiwan issue, avoid damaging the peace and stability of the Taiwan Strait and China-US relations," he said.

Two U.S. Navy ships transited through the Taiwan Strait on Wednesday, the third time this year that U.S. Navy ships have sailed through the body of water separating China from Taiwan, once again drawing criticism from China.

"The Taiwan issue is a matter of China's sovereignty and territorial integrity," Mr Ren said.

The US Navy sailed two ships through the Taiwan Strait on Wednesday, (the guided missile destroyer, USS Stockdale & the USNS Pecos) according to @USPacificFleet. The US Navy also sailed ships through the Strait in October & July of 2018.

The US recognizes Chinese sovereignty over Taiwan, but it has long courted Taipei in an attempt to counter China and is the island’s main source of arms.

U.S. Navy ships have continued to sail past those islands claimed by China to demonstrate freedom of navigation through international waters.

U.S. Navy, FILE The Henry J. Kaiser-class fleet replenishment oiler USNS Pecos transits the South China Sea, May 19, 2017.

"USS Stockdale (DDG 106) and USNS Pecos (T-AO-197) conducted a routine Taiwan Strait Transit on Nov. 28 (local time), in accordance with international law," said Lt. Cmdr. Tim Gorman, U.S. Pacific Fleet Spokesman.

A recent near-miss between a US Navy destroyer and a Chinese warship in the disputed South China Sea was only one of the signs pointing to an increasingly tense relationship between the two nations.

Two U.S. Navy ships pass through Taiwan Strait, opposing China