It seems the US Navy is establishing this almost as "routine" given the number of times this provocative act has been done over the past number of months (3 times last year); however, this time China's air force was busy overhead flying H6 strategic bombers and reconnaissance planes in the vicinity since Thursday. 

"The ships' transit through the Taiwan Strait demonstrates the US commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific," Lt. Cmdr. Tim Gorman told USNI News, referring to the guided missile destroyer USS McCampbell and the USNS Walter S. Diehl. "The US Navy will continue to fly, sail and operate anywhere international law allows." 

Taiwan described the ships' passage through the approximately 110-mile-wide strait as necessary to "ensure the security of the seas and regional stability" according to Reuters.