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.



Vatican Releases First Photo of Pope Francis in Hospital

 A general view shows children holding white and yellow balloons gathering by the statue of John Paul II outside the Gemelli University Hospital where Pope Francis is hospitalized, in Rome on March 16, 2025. (AFP)
A general view shows children holding white and yellow balloons gathering by the statue of John Paul II outside the Gemelli University Hospital where Pope Francis is hospitalized, in Rome on March 16, 2025. (AFP)
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Vatican Releases First Photo of Pope Francis in Hospital

 A general view shows children holding white and yellow balloons gathering by the statue of John Paul II outside the Gemelli University Hospital where Pope Francis is hospitalized, in Rome on March 16, 2025. (AFP)
A general view shows children holding white and yellow balloons gathering by the statue of John Paul II outside the Gemelli University Hospital where Pope Francis is hospitalized, in Rome on March 16, 2025. (AFP)

The Vatican on Sunday released the first image of Pope Francis in hospital since he began treatment for double pneumonia, in which the 88-year-old pontiff appeared to be breathing unaided.

The pope was admitted to Rome's Gemelli hospital on February 14 with a severe respiratory infection that has required evolving treatment. He has not been seen in public since.

Francis is pictured from behind, sitting facing the altar in a chapel at the hospital. The side of his face is visible and his right hand rests on his lap. There is no sign that he is receiving the supplementary oxygen that he has been given throughout his stay.

The Vatican said the photo was taken on Sunday, when the pope celebrated Mass with other priests in the chapel.

In its latest medical update, issued on Saturday, the Vatican said Francis was gradually improving and was using less mechanical ventilation at night to help with breathing.

The pope has been described as being in a stable or improving condition for nearly two weeks, but the Vatican has not yet given a timeframe for his discharge, saying his recovery is going slowly.

Francis is prone to lung infections because he had pleurisy as a young adult and had part of one lung removed.

He has been receiving both respiratory physiotherapy to help with his breathing and physical therapy to help with his mobility. He has used a wheelchair in recent years due to knee and back pain.

Francis celebrated the 12th anniversary of his election as pope from hospital on Thursday.

Doctors not involved in the pope's care have said he is likely to face a long, fraught road to recovery, given his age and other medical conditions.

On Saturday, the Vatican announced that Francis had approved a new three-year process to consider reforms for the global Catholic Church, in a sign that he intends to continue as pope, despite his health difficulties.