Japan warship asserts right to sail through Taiwan Strait: media

Japan's Sazanami destroyer, pictured here in 2017, sailed through the Taiwan Strait according to local media. - Photo: AFP file

TOKYO: A Japanese warship cruised through the Taiwan Strait for the first time to assert its freedom of navigation, local media said Thursday (Sept 26), just a week after a Chinese aircraft carrier sailed between two Japanese islands near Taiwan.

Washington and its allies are increasingly crossing the 180-kilometre (112-mile) Taiwan Strait to reinforce its status as an international waterway, angering Beijing.