TAIPEI, Aug 22 (Reuters) - A U.S. Navy P-8A Poseidon aircraft transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace on Friday, ‌in a move the U.S. 7th Fleet said "demonstrates the ‌United States' commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific".

The Chinese military tracked and monitored ​the patrol and reconnaissance aircraft throughout the transit, the state-backed Global Times newspaper reported, citing a military source, saying the "situation was under control".

U.S. military ships or aircraft every few months pass through or above ‌the waterway that separates ⁠democratically governed Taiwan from China — missions that anger Beijing.

Chinese President Xi Jinping is expected to visit the ⁠United States next month to meet President Donald Trump as Washington and Beijing look to stabilise ties marred by issues including Taiwan, trade ​disputes and ​technology curbs.

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

"The aircraft's transit of the Taiwan Strait demonstrates the United States' commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific. The United States military flies, sails, ‌and operates anywhere international law allows."

China ​claims democratically governed Taiwan as its own ​territory and says it ​has jurisdiction over the strait. Taiwan and the ‌U.S. say the strait is an ​international waterway.

Beijing has ​repeatedly said the Taiwan issue is its internal affair and at the core of Beijing's interests — a red line that ​must not be ‌crossed or trampled on.

Taiwan's government rejects China's sovereignty claims, saying ​that only Taiwan's people can decide their future.

(Reporting by ​Ben Blanchard; Editing by William Mallard)