Movement of US warships in Taiwan strait after election

Yahoo: A U.S. warship sailed through the Taiwan Strait on Thursday, the island's defense ministry said, less than a week after Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen won re-election by a landslide on a platform of standing up to China which claims the island.

The ship sailed in a northerly direction through the sensitive waterway and Taiwan's armed forces monitored it throughout, the ministry said in a brief statement on Friday, describing the sailing as an "ordinary mission"

Under the Trump administration, the United States has made bolstering its defense and other ties with Taiwan a priority, in spite of Chinese anger.

The top U.S. diplomat in Taiwan, Brent Christensen, told a forum in Taipei on Friday that his office's theme for this year was "real friends, real progress", and took what appeared to be an indirect dig at China.

Christensen said the United States this year will seek to further Taiwan's engagement in the world, something the island has found difficult due to China blocking Taiwan's participation in most international organizations.

"The United States and Taiwan are members of the same family of democracies," he added.