US Coast Guard ship sailed through Taiwan Strait a day after Blinken’s China visit

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — A U.S. Coast Guard ship sailed through the Taiwan Strait a day after U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken completed a trip to Beijing during which he met with Chinese leader Xi Jinping, in a move that Chinese authorities called “public hype.” The U.S. Navy’s 7th Fleet said in a statement Thursday that the U.S. Coast Guard cutter Stratton conducted a “routine Taiwan Strait transit” on June 20 through waters where “high-seas freedoms of navigation and overflight apply in accordance with international law.” China often maintains that the strait, which separates Taiwan and mainland China, is part of its exclusive economic zone, while the U.S. and its allies regularly sail through and fly over the passage to emphasize their contention that the waters are international.