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US warship sails through Taiwan Strait on Tiananmen anniversary

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Reuters

<p>TAIPEI - A U.S. warship sailed through the sensitive Taiwan Strait on Thursday, the U.S. and Taiwanese militaries said, on the same day as the 31st anniversary of China&#x27;s bloody crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrators in and around Tiananmen Square.</p><p>China, which considers Taiwan its territory, has been angered by the Trump administration&#x27;s stepped-up support for the self-ruled, democratic island, such as more arms sales and nearby U.S. patrols.</p><p>Taiwan&#x27;s Defense Ministry said on Friday the U.S. warship had transited the narrow Taiwan Strait that separates the island from the mainland, heading south.</p><p>Taiwan&#x27;s armed forces monitored the ship, which it described as being on an &quot;ordinary mission&quot;, the ministry added, without providing further details.</p><p>The U.S. Pacific Fleet, in a post on its Facebook page, named the ship as the USS Russell, an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer.</p><div><script src="https://connect.facebook.net/en_US/sdk.js#xfbml=1&amp;version=v2.5" async="" type="text/javascript"></script></div><div class="fb-post" data-href="https://www.facebook.com/USPacificFleet/photos/pcb.10158260691557970/10158260685147970/?type=3&amp;theater" data-width="auto"> </div><p>The United States has in recent months stepped up its sailings through the Taiwan Strait, to China&#x27;s anger, adding to tensions over everything from Beijing&#x27;s response to the coronavirus pandemic to trade and human rights.</p><p>Public events took place in both Taiwan and Chinese-ruled Hong Kong on Thursday to mark the 1989 Tiananmen anniversary.</p><p>Police pepper-sprayed some Hong Kong protesters on Thursday who defied a ban to stage candlelight rallies in memory of the crackdown, accusing Beijing of stifling their freedoms too.</p><p>(Reporting by Ben Blanchard. Editing by Gerry Doyle)</p>

<p>TAIPEI - A U.S. warship sailed through the sensitive Taiwan Strait on Thursday, the U.S. and Taiwanese militaries said, on the same day as the 31st anniversary of China's bloody crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrators in and around Tiananmen Square.</p>

TAIPEI - A U.S. warship sailed through the sensitive Taiwan Strait on Thursday, the U.S. and Taiwanese militaries said, on the same day as the 31st anniversary of China's bloody crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrators in and around Tiananmen Square.