Taipei: The US Navy's 7th Fleet confirmed on Thursday that a US Coast Guard ship passed through the Taiwan Strait on Tuesday, one day after US Secretary of State Antony Blinken returned from a rare trip to Beijing.

As Beijing increases its political and military pressure to try to persuade Taipei to accept Chinese sovereignty, the strait separating China from the democratically run island of Taiwan is a frequent source of tension.

The national security vessel USCGC Stratton made a "routine" transit of the Taiwan Strait on Tuesday, according to the US Navy's 7th Fleet, "through waters where high-seas freedoms of navigation and overflight apply in accordance with international law."

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The United States' dedication to a free and open Indo-Pacific is demonstrated by Stratton's passage through the Taiwan Strait. Anywhere that international law permits, the US military flies, sails, and conducts operations, the 7th Fleet added in its statement.

The mission took place the day after Blinken's visit to Beijing ended, during which the two nations agreed to calm their bitter rivalry in order to prevent a conflict from escalating, but no significant progress was made.

The ship was travelling in a northerly direction, according to Taiwan's defence ministry, and its forces were keeping an eye on the "normal" situation.
In recent years, US military ships and occasionally those of its allies have routinely navigated through the strait, angering China, which sees such operations as provocative.

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A video of a "unsafe interaction" in the strait between a Chinese warship and a US destroyer that was working with a Canadian warship was made public by the US Navy this month.

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The median line of the strait, which used to act as an informal barrier between the two countries, is where most Chinese incursions into Taiwan's airspace are reported by Taiwan's military almost every day.
Taiwan reported on Wednesday that Chinese warships escorted by the aircraft carrier Shandong had crossed the strait.