U.S. missile destroyer transits Taiwan Strait in first passage since U.S.-China trade war

A Navy guided-missile destroyer sailed through the Taiwan Strait last week for the first time since the U.S.-China trade war erupted and was shadowed by Chinese military forces.

The USS William P. Lawrence sailed through the waterway on Wednesday in what the Indo-Pacific Command said was “a routine Taiwan Strait transit April 23 through waters where freedoms of navigation and overflight apply in accordance with international law.”

Reports on X based on flight control data revealed that a high-altitude Navy MQ-4C Triton reconnaissance drone was conducting operations south of Taiwan around the same time the warship conducted the passage.

The warship transit and drone flight were the first shows of military force near Taiwan since President Trump imposed heavy tariffs on Chinese goods earlier this month.

The tariffs have been met with new Chinese tariffs on U.S. goods in what is now a full-blown trade war.

The Lawrence was the second warship to conduct an operation through the strait under the second Trump administration. In February, the guided missile destroyer USS Ralph Johnson and a Navy ocean survey ship, the USNS Bowditch, went through the contested waterway.

In Beijing, People’s Liberation Army Senior Col. Shi Yi, a spokesman for the Eastern Theater Command, said navy and air force forces were sent to track and monitor the Lawrence.

“The U.S.’s relevant remarks distorted the fact, confused the public and misled the international perception,” Col. Shi said in a statement posted on the PLA website. “We urge the U.S. side to stop distorting and hyping up and jointly safeguard regional peace and stability.”

A statement by the Indo-Pacific commander said the Lawrence sailed in a narrow corridor of the 100-mile-wide Taiwan Strait.

The corridor is beyond the territorial sea of any coastal state, the command said.

“William P. Lawrence’s transit through the Taiwan Strait demonstrates the United States’ commitment to upholding freedom of navigation for all nations as a principle,” the statement said.

“The international community’s navigational rights and freedoms in the Taiwan Strait should not be limited. The United States rejects any assertion of sovereignty or jurisdiction that is inconsistent with freedoms of navigation, overflight, and other lawful uses of the sea and air.”

The Indo-Pacific Command statement referencing freedoms of navigation and overflight suggests the Triton drone operation was part of the destroyer action.

A report by the Indo-Pacom legal office said China tries to promote false narratives that freedom of navigation operations are provocative, destabilizing and not conducive to regional peace and stability.

“To the contrary, the [People’s Republic of China’s] excessive maritime claims and attempts to enforce them are destabilizing, coercive, and threaten the rules-based order,” the report said.

The excessive sea claims include unlawful restrictions on the right of innocent passage allowed for all nations, unlawful restrictions on high-seas freedom of navigation and overflight in its exclusive economic zone, and excessive claims of maritime jurisdiction, the report said.

“The PRC uses its expansive maritime claims to coerce/intimidate others and attempt to unilaterally erode and reform the international rules based order in its favor,” the report said.

China also tried to impede lawful freedom of navigation operations by making false claims about expelling vessels engaged in the operations.

China has claimed sovereignty over the entire Taiwan Strait.

The destroyer transit coincided with the launch of a major annual military exercise involving U.S. and Philippine military forces near the Taiwan Strait.

In an unusual show of Chinese military power, a Chinese aircraft carrier sailed near the northern maritime boundary of the Philippines on Thursday just as the Balikatan (“Shoulder-to-Shoulder”) military drills began.

The exercises included coordinated U.S. and Philippine naval drills designed to enhance interoperability, maritime domain awareness and regional security in Philippine waters.

The exercises are taking place near Subic Bay and up through waters near Northern Luzon, according to the Philippine military.

China has voiced opposition to the exercises, which included the deployment of U.S. medium-range Typhon missile systems that can fire long-range Tomahawk cruise missiles and SM-6 anti-ship missiles.

For the first time this year, Balikatan also includes deployment of a new anti-ship missile system called NMESIS, short for Navy-Marine Corps Expeditionary Ship Interdiction System.

The ground-based anti-ship missile is loaded into a remotely controlled launcher that can be deployed on islands and is capable of striking ships up to about 100 miles away.

Defense analysts have voiced concerns that mounting U.S.-China tensions over trade could escalate to a military exchange.

So far, the Lawrence transit is the sole action that has prompted a rhetorical response.

Adm. Sam Paparo, commander of the Indo-Pacific Command, told a Senate hearing this month that PLA forces are engaged in aggressive military activities near Taiwan that threaten U.S. and allied security.

“China’s unprecedented aggression and military modernization poses a serious threat to the homeland, our allies and our partners,” the four-star admiral told the Senate Armed Services Committee.

The warship’s passage through the Taiwan Strait coincided with increased PLA military activities around the island.

Taiwan’s defense ministry reported on X that 19 PLA aircraft and seven warships were operating near Taiwan on Wednesday.

A day earlier, the ministry reported 29 PLA aircraft and six warships.

The PLA’s constant military incursions are part of what the U.S. military calls a “pressure campaign” against what China says are independence activities by the Taiwanese government.