East China Sea. (June 2, 2023) In this photo by MC3 Thomas Contant, an MH-60S Sea Hawk helicopter from Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron 25, Det. 6, attached to the forward-deployed amphibious assault ship USS America lands on the flight deck of the Royal Australian Navy frigate HMAS Anzac while operating in international waters. The America is the lead ship of the U.S. Amphibious Ready Group of the 7th Fleet, the Navy's largest forward-deployed force that routinely operates with Allies and partners in preserving a free and open Indo-Pacific region.

Tensions with China are at an all-time high as another dangerous incident involving a U.S. warship occurred this week. The U.S. military released a video of the incident on Monday which shows the “unsafe” Chinese maneuver in the Taiwan Strait in which a Chinese navy ship cut sharply across the path of an American destroyer, forcing the U.S. vessel to slow to avoid a collision.

The incident involved the American destroyer USS Chung-Hoon and the Canadian frigate HMCS Montreal as they were conducting a freedom of navigation transit of the strait between Taiwan and mainland China.

Since the end of World War II, China has claimed the democratic self-governing island of Taiwan as part of its territory and that the waters of the South China Sea are part of their “exclusive economic zone”. The U.S. and its allies regularly sail through and fly over the region to assert international law and the rights of all vessels to sail these waters free from harassment by the Chinese.

The USS America is an amphibious assault ship designed to put ashore Marine Expeditionary forces using helicopters and the MV-228 Osprey rotary wing aircraft. Ships of the America class can be used as small aircraft carriers with squadrons of jet fighters plus several multipurpose helicopters, such as the MH-60 Seahawk (pictured above). HMAZ Anzac is an Australian long range frigate capable of air defense and surface or undersea warfare, surveillance, reconnaissance and interdiction.

The U.S.-Australia alliance dates to World War I and Aussie troops have served alongside their American counterparts for every major conflict since. Both nations are committed to ensuring the free navigation of the world’s oceans in accordance with international law.