BEIJING/TAIPEI: Two U.S. Navy ships navigated the Taiwan Strait this week, marking the first such operation since President Donald Trump took office last month.

The move has drawn a strong rebuke from China, which claims Taiwan as its own and considers the strait part of its territorial waters.

The U.S. Navy announced that the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Ralph Johnson and the Pathfinder-class survey ship USNS Bowditch conducted a north-to-south transit between February 10 and 12.

"The transit occurred through a corridor in the Taiwan Strait that is beyond any coastal state's territorial seas," said Navy Commander Matthew Comer, spokesperson for the U.S. military's Indo-Pacific Command. "Within this corridor, all nations enjoy high-seas freedom of navigation, overflight, and other internationally lawful uses of the sea related to these freedoms."

China responded swiftly, condemning the passage and accusing the U.S. of escalating tensions in the region.

"The U.S. action sends the wrong signals and increases security risks," China's Eastern Theatre Command said in a statement, adding that its forces had been dispatched to monitor the transit.

Beijing considers Taiwan a core issue in its foreign policy and frequently expresses frustration over U.S. military presence in the region. This week, China also lodged a complaint with Japan over a statement issued after Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba met with President Trump. That statement emphasized the importance of "maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait" and supported "Taiwan's meaningful participation in international organizations."

China's Taiwan Affairs Office spokesperson, Zhu Fenglian, warned the U.S. against interfering in what Beijing considers its internal affairs.

"We are resolutely opposed to this and will never allow any outside interference," she said. "We have the firm will, full confidence, and capability to uphold the country's sovereignty and territorial integrity."

Taiwan's defense ministry confirmed that its forces monitored the transit, describing the situation as "normal."

Meanwhile, tensions in the region remain high. On Wednesday, Taiwan's defense ministry reported detecting 30 Chinese military aircraft and seven navy ships operating around the island within the previous 24 hours.

"I really don't need to explain further who the so-called troublemaker around the Taiwan Strait is," ministry spokesperson Sun Li-fang told reporters in Taipei. "All other countries in the neighborhood have a deep appreciation of this."

Chinese state television also reported that since Lunar New Year's Eve on January 28, the Eastern Theatre Command has carried out multiple "combat readiness" patrols and training missions near Taiwan, stating the operations are meant to "guard the joy and peace of the people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait."

Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te has repeatedly rejected Beijing's sovereignty claims, asserting that only Taiwan's people can decide their future.