The Eastern Theater Command of the People's Liberation Army remains on high alert and is ready to thwart any provocations, Senior Colonel Shi Yi, a spokesman for the theater command, said in a statement on Sunday.

The statement came after two United States warships sailed through the Taiwan Straits. The US cruisers Chancellorsville and Antietam sailed through the Taiwan Straits on Sunday, with the US publicly hyping the trip, Shi said.

He said the theater command has tracked and monitored the entire passage of the ships and has everything under control.

The transit was the first such operation of the US Navy since the PLA conducted military drills around the island of Taiwan in response to a visit to Taiwan by US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi earlier this month despite strong oppositions from the Chinese mainland.