Analysis: Chinese Envoy to the U.S. Threatens War Over U.S. Navy Port Calls in Taiwan

While it is unlikely the PLA would invade Taiwan in response to the resumption of regular U.S. Navy visits to Taiwan, Taipei and Washington must weigh the advantages of the largely symbolic move against the possible costs 

Chinese Ambassador to the U.S. Minister Li Kexin last week told hundreds of people assembled at an embassy event in Washington, D.C., that calls by U.S. Navy vessels at ports in Taiwan would violate China’s “Anti-Secession Law” of 2005 and automatically spark a military response. 

The blunt messaging on U.S. soil was ostensibly in response to the passage, on Nov. 30, of the 2018 National Defense Authorization Act by Congress, which contains language authorizing the U.S. to evaluate the possibility of re-establishing “regular ports of call by the U.S. Navy at Kaohsiung or any other suitable ports in Taiwan” and allowing Taiwanese vessels to make port calls at U.S. Pacific Command (PACOM) yards. 

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