A Canadian warship sailed through the sensitive Taiwan Strait while Taiwan detected 24 Chinese military aircraft near the island, Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense said.

The Chinese aircraft included fighter jets and drones and conducted “joint combat readiness patrols” with military vessels around Taiwan on Sunday, the ministry said in a statement.

The Chinese military sent a radio message to the Canadian ship sailing through the Taiwan Strait, warning it to change course, Taiwanese media reported.

The Halifax-class HMCS Ottawa is the first Canadian naval ship to transit the waterway this year, Taiwan’s foreign ministry said. It comes days after two U.S. ships, a destroyer and a survey ship, passed through.

The United States and its allies regularly sail through the 180-kilometer (112-mile) Taiwan Strait to bolster its status as an international waterway, angering China.

The U.S. destroyer and ocean survey ship have been sailing through the strait since Monday, drawing criticism from the Chinese military that it “sent the wrong signal and increased security risks.”

According to data released by Taiwan’s Ministry of Defense, 62 Chinese military aircraft were detected near the island between 6 a.m. and 48 p.m. on Wednesday (22:00 GMT Tuesday), coinciding with U.S. ship traffic.

Washington’s latest patrol was the first since U.S. President Donald Trump took office in January.

It came after Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said they were “opposed to any attempt to unilaterally change the status quo [in the Taiwan Strait] by force or coercion.”

Like most countries, the United States does not have formal diplomatic relations with Taiwan, but is its strongest international backer and provides military support to the island to maintain its defense capabilities.

Since Trump took office, Taiwan has been uneasy with criticism of Taiwan’s dominance in semiconductor manufacturing, and his administration has also expressed support for it.

Taiwan’s government rejects Beijing’s claims of sovereignty over the island and says its future can only be determined by the people of Taiwan. Taiwan says it is an independent country known as the Republic of China.

Beijing describes Taiwan as one of its “core interests” and regularly condemns any show of support for Taipei from Washington.

On Thursday, the US State Department removed a statement from its website that it does not support Taiwanese independence.

It also added a reference to Taiwan’s cooperation with a Pentagon technology and semiconductor development project, and said the US supports Taiwan’s membership in international organizations.

“We oppose any unilateral changes by either side,” the updated State Department website reads.

“We look forward to resolving cross-strait differences through peaceful means, without coercion, in a manner acceptable to the people of both sides of the [Taiwan] Strait.”

Taiwanese Foreign Minister Lin Chia-lung “welcomed the support and positive stance for U.S.-Taiwan relations demonstrated by the relevant content,” his ministry said in a statement Sunday.

The language changes were first reported Sunday by Taiwan’s official Central News Agency.

Words about Taiwan independence were also removed in 2022, before being revised a month later.