Team Infidel
Forum Spin Doctor
Washington Times
December 1, 2007
Pg. 1
By Reuters News Agency
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 yesterday.
China will not allow the USS Reuben James, a frigate with about 200 crew members, to visit Hong Kong over the New Year's holiday and has barred the next planned quarterly flight into Hong Kong by a C-17 aircraft to support the U.S. Consulate there, said Marine Corps Maj. Stewart Upton.
Washington has complained that, at the last minute, China blocked a visit by the Kitty Hawk and accompanying ships for the Thanksgiving holiday last week. Family and friends of crew members had flown in to meet their loved ones.
The United States also has complained that China refused to let two minesweepers take shelter from a storm in Hong Kong last week.
On Nov. 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. At that time, China also rejected the request for the frigate and canceled the support flight.
U.S. officials told The Washington Times that China is protesting U.S. sales of upgraded Patriot missile-systems equipment to Taiwan. It also is irritated over a meeting of President Bush with 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 that 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 that 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.
About 50 U.S. Navy ships visit Hong Kong every year, the official said — about the same number 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.
December 1, 2007
Pg. 1
By Reuters News Agency
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 yesterday.
China will not allow the USS Reuben James, a frigate with about 200 crew members, to visit Hong Kong over the New Year's holiday and has barred the next planned quarterly flight into Hong Kong by a C-17 aircraft to support the U.S. Consulate there, said Marine Corps Maj. Stewart Upton.
Washington has complained that, at the last minute, China blocked a visit by the Kitty Hawk and accompanying ships for the Thanksgiving holiday last week. Family and friends of crew members had flown in to meet their loved ones.
The United States also has complained that China refused to let two minesweepers take shelter from a storm in Hong Kong last week.
On Nov. 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. At that time, China also rejected the request for the frigate and canceled the support flight.
U.S. officials told The Washington Times that China is protesting U.S. sales of upgraded Patriot missile-systems equipment to Taiwan. It also is irritated over a meeting of President Bush with 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 that 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 that 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.
About 50 U.S. Navy ships visit Hong Kong every year, the official said — about the same number 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.