Two US Navy warships transited the Taiwan Strait on Sunday—the first such sailings since China held massive military exercises around Taiwan in response to a visit to the self-ruled island by US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, The Japan Times reported.

The guided-missile cruisers USS Antietam and USS Chancellorsville conducted "a routine Taiwan Strait transit … through waters where high seas freedoms of navigation and overflight apply in accordance with international law,” a US Navy 7th Fleet spokesperson told The Japan Times. “These ships transited through a corridor in the Strait that is beyond the territorial sea of any coastal State.”

The US Navy said cruisers Chancellorsville and Antietam were carrying out the ongoing operation. Such operations usually take eight to 12 hours to complete and are closely monitored by China's military.