CHINESE WARNING: China’s Taiwan Affairs Office reiterated that Beijing opposes any form of official interaction and military contact between the US and Taiwan
Taipei Times
Date: Oct 18, 2018
By: Lu Yi-hsuan and Sherry Hsiao / Staff reporter, with staff writer
The presence of the US research vessel Thomas G. Thompson in Kaohsiung is unrelated
Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu attends a meeting of the Legislative Yuan’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee in Taipei yesterday. Photo: George Tsorng, Taipei Times
to Taiwan-US military cooperation, Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) said at the Legislative Yuan in Taipei yesterday morning.
Asked by reporters if he is afraid that increased cooperation between the US and Taiwan would anger China, Wu said he is not worried about China’s reaction because the Thomas G. Thompson is a research vessel, and this is not the first time it has visited Taiwan.
The ship conducts research on the Earth’s atmosphere, he added.
The presence of the US ship, which the Taiwan International Ports Corp (TIPC) said dropped anchor in the Port of Kaohsiung on Monday morning, fueled speculation about increased Taiwan-US military partnership after the US National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for fiscal year 2018 opened up the possibility of mutual visits between Taiwanese and US vessels, and rumors of a US naval exercise in the Taiwan Strait and South China Sea next month emerged. [FULL STORY]
