A US Navy patrol and reconnaissance aircraft flew through the Taiwan Strait on Tuesday, drawing criticism from China.

The US 7th Fleet announced on Tuesday that a US Navy P-8A Poseidon "transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace."

The 7th Fleet said in a statement, "By operating within the Taiwan Strait in accordance with international law, the United States upholds the navigational rights and freedoms of all nations."

It also said the aircraft's transit "demonstrates the United States' commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific."

A spokesperson for China's Eastern Theater Command, which oversees the East China Sea, including Taiwan, issued a statement criticizing the transit, saying the US is hyping it up publicly.

It added that China dispatched fighter jets to pursue and surveil the US aircraft.

Western nations are increasingly pressing China, which is stepping up its military pressure on Taiwan.

Two German Navy ships passed through the Taiwan Strait on Friday for the first time in 22 years, while a US guided-missile destroyer conducted a transit of the strait last month.