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http://www.newsmax.com/newsfront/china_blocks_ship/2007/11/30/53630.html
China Blocks Another U.S. Ship
Friday, November 30, 2007
WASHINGTON -- China turned down a request for another U.S. Navy ship to
visit Hong Kong amid a spat over a long-planned docking of the USS Kitty
Hawk aircraft carrier, the Pentagon said on Friday.
Washington has complained that China, at the last minute, blocked a visit by
the Kitty Hawk and accompanying ships for the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday last
week. Family and friends of crew members had flown in to meet their loved
ones.
The United States has also complained China refused to let two minesweepers
shelter from a storm in Hong Kong last week.
On November 22, China made a late reversal of its decision to bar the Kitty
Hawk but by then the ship was steaming away from Hong Kong and could not
return, U.S. officials have said.
But when China told the United States it was reversing course, it also
rejected a request for the USS Reuben James, a frigate with about 200 crew,
to visit Hong Kong over the New Year holiday, a Pentagon spokesman said.
Also on November 22, China told the United States it would not allow the
next planned quarterly flight into Hong Kong by a C-17 aircraft to support
the U.S. consulate there, said the spokesman, Marine Corps Maj. Stewart
Upton.
China's actions have prompted speculation it wanted to show irritation over
U.S. plans to help Taiwan upgrade its missile system and a meeting between
President George W. Bush and exiled Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama.
Beijing sees Taiwan as a renegade province and the Dalai Lama as a
separatist trying to win independence for Tibet, which Chinese troops
invaded in 1950.
Having protested earlier in the week about the treatment of the Kitty Hawk
and the minesweepers, the Bush administration made clear it now wanted to
draw a line under the incidents.
"This relationship is growing and maturing and this is something that two
nations should be able to work through, and I don't think escalating it
every day is necessary," White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said.
"This incident has not prevented us from being able to work with the
Chinese."
The rejections mark the first time China has turned down a port visit by a
U.S. Navy ship since 2004, a U.S. defense official said. The request for the
Reuben James was made in October.
Some 50 U.S. Navy ships visit Hong Kong every year, the official said, about
the same amount as before Britain returned the territory to Chinese rule in
1997.
The Kitty Hawk was accompanied by five vessels at the time of its planned
visit to Hong Kong, the official said. Officials had previously said it had
eight accompanying ships.
China Blocks Another U.S. Ship
Friday, November 30, 2007
WASHINGTON -- China turned down a request for another U.S. Navy ship to
visit Hong Kong amid a spat over a long-planned docking of the USS Kitty
Hawk aircraft carrier, the Pentagon said on Friday.
Washington has complained that China, at the last minute, blocked a visit by
the Kitty Hawk and accompanying ships for the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday last
week. Family and friends of crew members had flown in to meet their loved
ones.
The United States has also complained China refused to let two minesweepers
shelter from a storm in Hong Kong last week.
On November 22, China made a late reversal of its decision to bar the Kitty
Hawk but by then the ship was steaming away from Hong Kong and could not
return, U.S. officials have said.
But when China told the United States it was reversing course, it also
rejected a request for the USS Reuben James, a frigate with about 200 crew,
to visit Hong Kong over the New Year holiday, a Pentagon spokesman said.
Also on November 22, China told the United States it would not allow the
next planned quarterly flight into Hong Kong by a C-17 aircraft to support
the U.S. consulate there, said the spokesman, Marine Corps Maj. Stewart
Upton.
China's actions have prompted speculation it wanted to show irritation over
U.S. plans to help Taiwan upgrade its missile system and a meeting between
President George W. Bush and exiled Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama.
Beijing sees Taiwan as a renegade province and the Dalai Lama as a
separatist trying to win independence for Tibet, which Chinese troops
invaded in 1950.
Having protested earlier in the week about the treatment of the Kitty Hawk
and the minesweepers, the Bush administration made clear it now wanted to
draw a line under the incidents.
"This relationship is growing and maturing and this is something that two
nations should be able to work through, and I don't think escalating it
every day is necessary," White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said.
"This incident has not prevented us from being able to work with the
Chinese."
The rejections mark the first time China has turned down a port visit by a
U.S. Navy ship since 2004, a U.S. defense official said. The request for the
Reuben James was made in October.
Some 50 U.S. Navy ships visit Hong Kong every year, the official said, about
the same amount as before Britain returned the territory to Chinese rule in
1997.
The Kitty Hawk was accompanied by five vessels at the time of its planned
visit to Hong Kong, the official said. Officials had previously said it had
eight accompanying ships.
