The US Navy says one of its destroyers has sailed through the Taiwan Strait, drawing a response from China.

The US 7th Fleet said in a statement on Tuesday that its guided-missile destroyer USS John Finn conducted a routine south-to-north Taiwan strait transit that same day.

The statement said US ships "transit between the South China Sea and the East China Sea via the Taiwan Strait and have done so for many years."

It also said the transit occurred through a corridor in the strait "that is beyond any coastal state's territorial seas."

The statement added, "Within this corridor all nations enjoy high-seas freedoms of navigation."

Responding to the move, a spokesperson for the Chinese military's Eastern Theater Command issued a statement.

The statement said the military deployed its maritime and air forces to track and monitor the US warship's transit in the whole course and handled it according to law and regulations.

It stressed that Chinese troops remain on high alert at all times and address any intimidation and provocation.

China's Premier Li Qiang referred to Taiwan in a report on government activities at the National People's Congress, which started on Tuesday, stressing that China resolutely opposes external interference.