First US Navy Ships Sail through Taiwan Strait Since Trump Inauguration 

In this photo provided by the US Navy, the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Halsey conducts routine underway operations while transiting through the Taiwan Strait May 8, 2024. (AP/US Navy)
In this photo provided by the US Navy, the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Halsey conducts routine underway operations while transiting through the Taiwan Strait May 8, 2024. (AP/US Navy)
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First US Navy Ships Sail through Taiwan Strait Since Trump Inauguration 

In this photo provided by the US Navy, the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Halsey conducts routine underway operations while transiting through the Taiwan Strait May 8, 2024. (AP/US Navy)
In this photo provided by the US Navy, the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Halsey conducts routine underway operations while transiting through the Taiwan Strait May 8, 2024. (AP/US Navy)

Two US Navy ships sailed through the sensitive Taiwan Strait this week in the first such mission since President Donald Trump took office last month, drawing an angry reaction from China, which said the mission increased security risks.

The US Navy, occasionally accompanied by ships from allied countries, transits the strait about once a month. China, which claims Taiwan as its own territory, says the strategic waterway belongs to it.

The US Navy said the vessels were the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Ralph Johnson and Pathfinder-class survey ship, USNS Bowditch. The ships carried out a north-to-south transit February 10-12, it said.

"The transit occurred through a corridor in the Taiwan Strait that is beyond any coastal state's territorial seas," said Navy Commander Matthew Comer, a spokesperson at the US 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's military said that Chinese forces had been dispatched to keep watch.

"The US action sends the wrong signals and increases security risks," the Eastern Theater Command of the People's Liberation Army said in a statement early Wednesday.

China considers Taiwan its most important diplomatic issue and it is regularly a stumbling block in Sino-US relations.

China this week complained to Japan over "negative" references to China in a statement issued after a meeting between Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba.

That statement called for "maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait", and voiced support for "Taiwan's meaningful participation in international organizations".

Asked in Beijing on Wednesday about the US warships, Zhu Fenglian, spokesperson for China's Taiwan Affairs Office, said that Taiwan was a "core interest" for the country and that the United States should act with caution.

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

Taiwan's defense ministry said its forces had also kept watch but noted the "situation was as normal".

China's military operates daily in the strait as part of what Taiwan's government views as part of Beijing's pressure campaign.

On Wednesday, Taiwan's defense ministry said that it had detected 30 Chinese military aircraft and seven navy ships operating around the island in the previous 24-hour period.

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

Chinese state television said on Wednesday that since Lunar New Year's Eve on January 28, the Eastern Theater Command had repeatedly dispatched sea and air forces to carry out "combat readiness" patrols and training missions around Taiwan.

The operations aim to "guard the joy and peace of the people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait", the report said.

The last publicly acknowledged US Navy mission in the strait was in late November, when a P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft flew over the waterway.

The last time a US Navy ship was confirmed to have sailed through the strait was in October, a joint mission with a Canadian warship.

Taiwan President Lai Ching-te rejects Beijing's sovereignty claims, saying only Taiwan's people can decide their future.



Netanyahu Says He Will Seek to Dismiss the Head of Israel’s Internal Security Service

 Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends his trial on corruption charges at the district court in Tel Aviv, Israel, Wednesday, March 12, 2025. (AP)
Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends his trial on corruption charges at the district court in Tel Aviv, Israel, Wednesday, March 12, 2025. (AP)
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Netanyahu Says He Will Seek to Dismiss the Head of Israel’s Internal Security Service

 Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends his trial on corruption charges at the district court in Tel Aviv, Israel, Wednesday, March 12, 2025. (AP)
Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends his trial on corruption charges at the district court in Tel Aviv, Israel, Wednesday, March 12, 2025. (AP)

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced Sunday he will seek to dismiss the head of the country's internal security service this week, following a power struggle over the Hamas attack that sparked the war in Gaza.

Netanyahu said in a statement he has had “ongoing distrust” with Shin Bet Director Ronen Bar, and “this distrust has grown over time.”

The Shin Bet is responsible for monitoring Palestinian armed groups, and recently issued a report accepting responsibility for its failures around the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack. But it also criticized Netanyahu, saying failed government policies helped create the climate that led to it.

The tensions boiled over this weekend when Bar’s predecessor, Nadav Argaman, said he would release sensitive information about Netanyahu if it is found that the prime minister had broken the law. Netanyahu accused Argaman of blackmail and filed a police complaint.

The Shin Bet did not have an immediate response to Netanyahu's announcement.

Netanyahu has resisted calls for an official state commission of inquiry into the Oct. 7 attack and has tried to blame the failures on the army and security agencies. In recent months, a number of senior security officials, including a defense minister and army chief, have been fired or forced to step down.

Bar had been one of the few remaining senior security officials since the Oct. 7 attack to remain in office.

Netanyahu said removing Bar from his position would help Israel “achieve its war goals and prevent the next disaster.” The prime minister is expected to appoint a loyalist in his place, slowing any momentum for the commission of inquiry.

The Movement for Quality Government in Israel, a good-governance civil society group, called Netanyahu’s announcement a “declaration of war on the rule of law” and claimed that he does not have the authority to take the step against Bar because of investigations into his own office.

Netanyahu is also angry that the Shin Bet is investigating members of his staff for their dealings with Qatar. The Shin Bet, and Bar, have been closely involved with the hostage negotiations during the war in Gaza.

Netanyahu recently removed Bar from the negotiating team and replaced him with a loyalist, Cabinet minister Ron Dermer. Israeli media have reported on deep policy differences between the negotiators, who have pushed for a hostage deal, and Netanyahu, who continues to threaten to resume the war.