TAIPEI: Two United States warships entered the Taiwan Strait on Saturday, the Taiwanese government said, at a time of heightened tensions between Washington and Beijing.

The destroyers USS Mustin and USS Benfold sailed into the narrow waterway separating Taiwan and China on Saturday morning and were expected to continue on a northeast course, Taiwan’s defense ministry said in a statement. “The military is monitoring the situation in neighboring areas, and has the confidence and abilities to maintain regional stability and defend national security,” the statement added.

A defense ministry official told the Media the ships were still in the strait on Saturday night, sailing in what he described as international waters. The warships’ entry into the strait comes as Washington and Beijing are locked in a trade war and as tensions escalate between Beijing and Taipei. China sees self-ruling democratic Taiwan as part of its territory to be reunified, but the island sees itself as a sovereign country.

Although the US does not have official diplomatic relations with Taiwan, it is its most powerful ally and biggest arms supplier. China has stepped up diplomatic and military pressure on Taiwan since Beijing-sceptic President Tsai Ing-wen took office two years ago as her government refuses to acknowledge that the island is part of “one China.”