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The U.S. destroyer John C. Stennis transited the sensitive Taiwan Strait on Monday morning, further underscoring the Trump administration’s commitment to, and solidarity with, the democratic island amid the escalating standoff with China over its trade practices.
The Stennis, one of the largest U.S. warships, entered the strait to show that “the United States will continue to peacefully defend Taiwan against any threat to its security,” the U.S. Pacific Command said in a statement Monday.
The U.S. guided-missile destroyer USS Stennis enters into the Taiwan Strait Monday, May 7, 2018. (Su Yajie/AFP/Getty Images)
Nearly a dozen Chinese bombers and fighter jets carried out a large-scale drill near the Taiwan Strait during a drill in April. President Xi Jinping also vowed in a Chinese declaration last week to restore the “one China” policy that China laid down for Taiwan under its former leader, Mao Zedong.
China’s president, Xi Jinping, looks on after visiting a sea-based jet operation center on Sunday. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)
Taiwan’s president, Tsai Ing-wen, recently sent a letter to President Trump requesting that the U.S. “exert every effort at a near-sea level” to help ease tensions with China. The efforts of Trump’s administration may be beginning to pay off.