China's military on Friday condemned the sailing of a US and British warship through the sensitive Taiwan Strait, saying it ordered naval and air forces to monitor and warn the two ships.
The People's Liberation Army's Eastern Theatre Command said the US destroyer USS Higgins and British frigate HMS Richmond were engaged in "trouble-making and provocation".
"The actions of the United States and Britain send the wrong signals and undermine peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait," it said in a statement.
Britain's defence ministry said the sailing was a routine passage.
"Wherever the Royal Navy operates, it does so in full compliance with international law and norms, and exercises freedom of navigation rights in accordance with the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea."
The US Indo-Pacific Command also described the mission as a routine transit.
"The ships transited through a corridor in the strait that is beyond the territorial sea of any coastal state," it said in a statement. "Navigational rights and freedoms in the Taiwan Strait should not be limited."
Earlier on Friday, China's navy said its third aircraft carrier, the Fujian, which is still undergoing sea trials, had passed through the strait as well.
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