CHINA has responded to Donald Trump's decision to send the USS Mustin through the Taiwan Strait by deploying a military vessel of its own to track the destroyer - with a senior Chinese military commander describing the situation as "a real threat to peace".
The US guided-missile destroyer USS Mustin sailed through the narrow waterway, the US navy said, the latest in a series of such ventures in recent months, which have drawn angry protests from China each time. The Eastern Theatre Command of China's People's Liberation Army confirmed air and naval forces followed and monitored the US ship throughout its voyage.

Senior Colonel Zhang Chunhui, spokesman for the People's Liberation Army (PLA) Eastern Theater Command said the move send the wrong signal to what he called "Taiwan independence" forces.

He added: "We sternly warn related parties that any statement and act that sabotages the one-China principle and stirs up trouble in the Taiwan Straits does not fit the fundamental interests of China and the US, and damages the well-being of compatriots on both sides of the Taiwan Straits, as it brings a real threat to peace and stability in the region, which is very dangerous."

A report carried in China's state-run Global Times newspaper claimed there had been 10 US warship transits in the Taiwan Strait so far in 2020.