This week, Beijing expressed its “solemn concerns” to Washington after a US Navy research vessel docked in Taiwan's port city of Kaohsiung at a time when tensions between China and the US continue to grow over trade issues and China's expansion in the Indo-Pacific.
The Thomas G. Thompson research vessel, which is owned by the US Navy, has been docked at the Kaohsiung port for refueling and crew changes since Monday, the South China Morning Post reported. The vessel has visited the port in Taiwan four times this year for refueling, according to a Tuesday report by the Focus Taiwan News Channel. The ship's latest visit has angered Beijing, which has frequently warned Washington against establishing diplomatic and military ties with Taiwan. According to Taiwanese Defense Minister Yen De-fa, the vessel's visit is “unrelated to military activity,” Taiwan's official Central News Agency reported this week.
China considers self-governing Taiwan part of its territory and claims sovereignty over it. Taiwan, by comparison, still bears the name of the pre-communist-era government, the Republic of China, whose territorial control was confined to the island at the conclusion of the civil war in 1949, when the People's Republic of China was established in Beijing on the mainland.
Despite Beijing's warnings, the US Senate Armed Services Committee passed an annual defense policy bill for 2019 that includes provisions to strengthen military cooperation…
