Asia Times
Date: December  17, 2017
By: Emanuele Scimia 

The United States may re-establish port-of-call exchanges in Taiwan for warships of both countries, a move that has brought a strong protest from the Chinese government.

The controversial idea is contained in the National Defense Authorization Act for 2018, which President Donald Trump signed into law last Tuesday. Congressmen on Capitol Hill called on the commander-in-chief to consider resuming regular port-of-call exchanges between the United States Navy and its Taiwanese counterpart.

Beijing immediately lodged a formal protest with Washington. Now it is up to Trump to decide whether US naval vessels will dock at Taiwan ports in the future. Taiwanese leaders likely would gladly barter port visits by US warships for the possibility of buying US-made submarines. But in military terms, mutual port calls and subsurface combat assets are of equal importance to the security of the island.    [FULL  STORY]