China's Military said Thursday it had sent naval and air force to monitor and warn an U.S. guided-missile destroyer which sailed along the Taiwan Strait.

About once a week, the U.S. Navy transits the Strait, sometimes accompanied by ships of allied nations. China, which claims Taiwan to be its territory, claims the strategic waterway as theirs.

China's latest round of wargames around Taiwan was held earlier this month. This drew condemnation from Taipei, and concerns from the United States.

The Eastern Theatre Command, a division of the People's Liberation Army of China, named the ship the guided-missile destroyer USS William P. Lawrence and claimed it had passed through the strait in an act "of public hyping".

The command issued a statement in which it said that "Relevant comments by the United States" had inverted right and incorrect, distorted legal principles and confused the public, as well as misled the international perception. It did not specify the remarks in question.

"We tell the United States that they must stop their distortions, hyping and work together in order to maintain peace and security along the Taiwan Strait."

The U.S. Navy didn't immediately respond to an inquiry for comment.

The last time the sailing was publicly announced through the strait, it happened in February. Reporting by Beijing Newsroom, Additional reporting and writing in Taipei by Ben Blanchard; Editing and Christian Schmollinger by Aiden Lewis and Christian Schmollinger

(source: Reuters)