Beijing was left fuming after a US warship sailed through the sensitive Taiwan Straits on Thursday in what the US military has called routine activity. In recent years, US warships, as well as those from Britain and Canada, have sailed through the strait.
This has irritated China which claims full sovereignty over Taiwan, despite objections from Taipei.
In a statement, the US military said the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer Chung-Hoon had made the journey.
They said: “Chung-Hoon’s transit through the Taiwan Strait demonstrates the United States’ commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific.”
Liu Pengyu, spokesman for China’s embassy in Washington, said in a statement that Beijing opposed the move and urged Washington to “immediately stop provoking troubles, escalating tensions and undermining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait”.
Mr Pengyu added that the move was not about keeping the region “free and open” and that China would stay on “high alert” and defend its sovereignty.
He said: “US warships frequently flex muscles in the name of exercising freedom of navigation.
“This is not about keeping the region free and open.
“China will continue to stay on high alert and is ready to respond to all threats and provocations at any time, and will resolutely safeguard its national sovereignty and territorial integrity.”
READ MORE: Wagner Group bodies piled high in grim basement footage in Ukraine
China has never ruled out the use of force to take control of the island.
Taiwan has vowed to defend itself if attacked and has rejected China’s sovereignty claims as the People’s Republic of China has never governed the island.
Last month, a Chinese military plane came within three metres of an American air force aircraft in the contested South China Sea, forcing it to take evasive manoeuvres in order to avoid a collision.