(TibetanReview.net, Feb17’19) – In an apparent move to strengthen its claim over Tibet, which it still struggles to defend as it own “since ancient times”, China has named its newest warship, a 10,000-tonne guided-missile destroyer of the PLA Navy, as ‘Lhasa,’ after the Tibetan capital. Other names proposed for it earlier included Taipei.
The warship was recently unveiled in Qingdao, east China’s Shandong Province, reported defenseworld.net Feb 15.
“The 10,000-tonne guided-missile destroyer of the PLA Navy has been named as Lhasa” the report cited China’s Military as saying, quoting the Civil Affairs Bureau of Lhasa in late 2018.
The report noted that in mid-2018 China had also conducted a poll asking voters to suggest a name for the newly acquired Type 055 guided-missile destroyer. The most popular answer was stated to be “Taipei,” capital of Taiwan, which China looks to annex by armed invasion if it considers itself provoked to do so.
The report noted that China’s “Naval Vessel’s Naming Regulations” require the nation’s aircraft carriers and battle cruisers to be named after an administrative province or region, while destroyers and corvettes must be named after cities governed by China.
