US identifies warship that sailed through Taiwan Strait Saturday

TAIPEI, Feb 18, 2020, CNA. The U.S. warship that sailed through the Taiwan Strait on Saturday has been identified as the USS Chancellorsville, according to a Facebook post by the U.S. Seventh Fleet late Saturday, Taiwan News reported.

The post released on the U.S. Seventh Fleet’s Facebook page reads, “the Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser USS Chancellorsville CG-62 conducts normal underway operations transiting from the East China Sea to the South China Sea.”

The post also has four photographs showing the warship and its crew.

However, it did not specify when the transit was made and if it was made via the Taiwan Strait which separates Taiwan and China.

The information was made public after the Taiwan military announced Saturday that a U.S. warship sailed through the Taiwan Strait earlier that day but did not identify the vessel.

It was the second time this year a U.S. warship has sailed through the Taiwan Strait.

The first time was on Jan. 17, when the guided-missile cruiser USS Shiloh (CG-67) made a similar journey, according to information revealed by the Ministry of National Defense (MND).

Based on recent announcements by the MND, the past week has seen a comparatively high level of military activity in the seas and skies around Taiwan.

Last Sunday and Monday, Chinese J-11 jet fighters, KJ-500 early warning aircraft and H-6 bombers flew over the Bashi Channel south of Taiwan and into the Western Pacific Ocean, before returning to their bases via the Miyako Strait to the northeast of Taiwan, the MND said.

On Monday, a number of Chinese planes briefly crossed the Taiwan Strait median line and entered Taiwan’s airspace, but retreated to the western side of the line after Taiwan scrambled F-16 fighters and other military aircraft and issued radio warnings to the Chinese squadron, the MND said.

Following those actions, the U.S. on Wednesday dispatched two B-52 Stratofortress bombers on southward flights off Taiwan’s east coast, while a MJ-130J Commando II multi-mission combat transport plane flew over the Taiwan Strait, also heading south, the MND said.