US sails warships through Taiwan Strait for first time since Pelosi visit

The US Navy sailed two warships through the Taiwan Strait on Sunday, in the first such transit publicised since US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan earlier in August, at a time when tensions kept the waterway particularly busy.

The USS Antietam and USS Chancellorsville were making a routine transit, the US 7th Fleet said.

The cruisers "transited through a corridor in the Strait that is beyond the territorial sea of any coastal State", the statement said.

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China carried out many military exercises in the strait as it sought to punish Taiwan after Nancy Pelosi visited the self-ruled island despite Beijing's threats.

China has sent many warships into the Taiwan Strait and waters surrounding Taiwan since her visit, as well as sending warplanes and firing long-range missiles.

It views the island as part of its national territory and opposes any visits by foreign governments that recognise Taiwan as its own state.

China said it tracked the movement of the ships.

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"Troops of the (Eastern) Theatre Command are on high alert and ready to foil any provocation at any time," said senior Colonel Shi Yi, of the People Liberation Army's Eastern Theatre Command.

The US regularly sends its ships through the Taiwan Strait as part of what it calls freedom of navigation manoeuvres.

The 100-mile-wide (160km-wide) strait divides Taiwan from China.