USS Benfold Transits Taiwan Strait As China Fumes

Destroyer USS Benfold moved through the Taiwan Strait on Wednesday, July 28, 2021, marking the seventh transit of the waters by American warships this year, Zarrin Ahmed reported for the United Press International (UPI).

Photo Insert: The Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Benfold transiting the Taiwan Strait conducts routine underway operations

The move supports the US commitment to a "free and open Indo-Pacific," the Japan-based 7th Fleet said.

The Benfold performed a navigation operation two weeks ago near the Paracel Islands, which China, Vietnam, and Taiwan have all staked claims to. China's military said it chased the warship away, but the US denied charges of violations.

The last time the Benfold crossed the Taiwan Strait was in July 2018, just as tensions between the US and China over trade were escalating. The USS Curtis Wilbur crossed the 110-mile strait that separates China and Taiwan in June and in May.

The Navy routinely crosses the waterway, with the Chinese government condemning the presence of US warships in the strait as provocative and causing "strong dissatisfaction" with the United States.

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