On Wednesday, ships from Australia and New Zealand traveled through the strait in the opposite direction of the naval destroyer JS Sazanami.
According to reported Japanese ministers, the ship was headed to South China Sea to participate in military drills.
This would be a major step for Japan, which is said to have refrained from passing through the strait with its ships so as to avoid upsetting China, which claims Taiwan and the strait as its own.
China, Taiwan, and Japan have not made any formal comments regarding the passage.
The Chinese military “conducted tracking and monitoring throughout [the vessels’] entire course and had the situation under control,” according to the state publication Global Times, which quoted an unidentified source.
The US and its allies have increased its patrols in the 180-kilometer (112-mile) Taiwan Strait in an effort to underline their freedom of navigation.
About half of the world’s container fleet travels through it, according to both the US and Taiwan. It is a vital maritime and commercial route that is accessible to all naval vessels and is located in international seas.
Beijing disagrees, claiming jurisdiction and sovereignty over the waterway.
The US Pacific fleet was the only foreign navy to routinely cross the strait for many years. Nevertheless, Australia and Canada joined it recently.
