A trio of U.S. naval vessels anchored in Hong Kong on Wednesday, the first U.S. naval ships to harbor in the city since China barred entry to another American ship in September, in a sign of easing military tensions between the two powers.
The aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan, guided-missile cruiser USS Chancellorsville, and guided-missile destroyer USS Curtis D. Wilbur made port in Hong Kong Harbor. U.S. Navy ships have visited Hong Kong for decades. Beijing’s refusal of entry to the amphibious assault ship USS Wasp earlier this year was thought to be in protest of the U.S. sanctioning China’s military for buying Russian weapons.
The visit by the USS Ronald Reagan and accompanying vessels reflects recent attempts by both sides to improve military-to-military relations, said Zhang Baohui, director of the Center for Asian Pacific Studies at the city’s Lingnan University.
U.S. Secretary of Defense James Mattis met his Chinese counterpart, General Wei Fenghe in Washington earlier this month.
