Team Infidel
Forum Spin Doctor
Washington Times
November 30, 2007
Pg. 3
U.S. seeks clarification about blocked port
By Bill Gertz, Washington Times
A U.S.-China dispute over the blocked port visit of a U.S. aircraft carrier strike group to Hong Kong escalated yesterday after China's government denied that China's foreign minister told the president the incident was a mistake.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao said Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi did not tell President Bush on Wednesday that blocking the Thanksgiving Day port visit to Hong Kong by aircraft carrier Kitty Hawk was the result of a misunderstanding.
"We have taken note of the reports. I want to clarify that all the reports are not true," Mr. Liu told reporters, according to the state-run Xinhua news agency.
Mr. Liu also said he was unaware of the Pentagon's formal protest of China's decision to block the planned port call by Kitty Hawk to Hong Kong on Nov. 22, and prevent two Navy minesweepers from seeking safe harbor in Hong Kong days earlier. He also said "there should not be such protests."
A Pentagon official met for 30 minutes Wednesday with Chinese defense attache Maj. Gen. Zhao Ning, and expressed the Defense Department's "deep regret and concern" for blocking two minesweepers from seeking safe harbor from a storm days before Kitty Hawk was blocked, ruining a planned holiday for hundreds of relatives of the 8,000 sailors on the carrier and other ships.
Mr. Liu, the Chinese spokesman went on to criticize the United States yesterday for "damaging relations with China by supplying arms to Taiwan and meeting with the exiled leader of Tibet, the Dalai Lama, suggesting that denying the U.S. ships to visit Hong Kong were due to those U.S. actions.
The Chinese government spokesman's remarks prompted White House press secretary Dana Perino to challenge the denial claim. "That was not the president's understanding from the meeting he had yesterday [with Mr. Yang]. We are seeking clarification," she told reporters.
"The president was told was there was a miscommunication that could lead to a misunderstanding. I was told there was a misunderstanding."
Mrs. Perino said during the Oval Office meeting "linkage was not made" with the Dalai Lama, who was awarded a congressional medal last month.
"We have been in communication with the Chinese. We are asking them to clarify the reasons that the Kitty Hawk was turned back," she said.
On Wednesday, "we were told there was a miscommunication. Today, there are reports in the press that someone in the Defense Ministry is saying it had to do with other reasons. So we are asking for a clarification on that matter."
Mr. Liu, in his briefing, stated that China's government decides on a case-by-case basis whether it permits ships to visit Hong Kong.
A Chinese military official was quoted in the state-run press as saying the ships were turned away because of U.S. arms sales to Taiwan, which have been under way for years, and which normally prompt protests from China. The communist government, which lays claim to Taiwan, regards such sales as interference in internal affairs.
U.S. officials told The Washington Times earlier this week that the sale of upgrading equipment for Taiwan's Patriot missile batteries was a key factor in China's refusal to allow the ship visits.
November 30, 2007
Pg. 3
U.S. seeks clarification about blocked port
By Bill Gertz, Washington Times
A U.S.-China dispute over the blocked port visit of a U.S. aircraft carrier strike group to Hong Kong escalated yesterday after China's government denied that China's foreign minister told the president the incident was a mistake.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao said Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi did not tell President Bush on Wednesday that blocking the Thanksgiving Day port visit to Hong Kong by aircraft carrier Kitty Hawk was the result of a misunderstanding.
"We have taken note of the reports. I want to clarify that all the reports are not true," Mr. Liu told reporters, according to the state-run Xinhua news agency.
Mr. Liu also said he was unaware of the Pentagon's formal protest of China's decision to block the planned port call by Kitty Hawk to Hong Kong on Nov. 22, and prevent two Navy minesweepers from seeking safe harbor in Hong Kong days earlier. He also said "there should not be such protests."
A Pentagon official met for 30 minutes Wednesday with Chinese defense attache Maj. Gen. Zhao Ning, and expressed the Defense Department's "deep regret and concern" for blocking two minesweepers from seeking safe harbor from a storm days before Kitty Hawk was blocked, ruining a planned holiday for hundreds of relatives of the 8,000 sailors on the carrier and other ships.
Mr. Liu, the Chinese spokesman went on to criticize the United States yesterday for "damaging relations with China by supplying arms to Taiwan and meeting with the exiled leader of Tibet, the Dalai Lama, suggesting that denying the U.S. ships to visit Hong Kong were due to those U.S. actions.
The Chinese government spokesman's remarks prompted White House press secretary Dana Perino to challenge the denial claim. "That was not the president's understanding from the meeting he had yesterday [with Mr. Yang]. We are seeking clarification," she told reporters.
"The president was told was there was a miscommunication that could lead to a misunderstanding. I was told there was a misunderstanding."
Mrs. Perino said during the Oval Office meeting "linkage was not made" with the Dalai Lama, who was awarded a congressional medal last month.
"We have been in communication with the Chinese. We are asking them to clarify the reasons that the Kitty Hawk was turned back," she said.
On Wednesday, "we were told there was a miscommunication. Today, there are reports in the press that someone in the Defense Ministry is saying it had to do with other reasons. So we are asking for a clarification on that matter."
Mr. Liu, in his briefing, stated that China's government decides on a case-by-case basis whether it permits ships to visit Hong Kong.
A Chinese military official was quoted in the state-run press as saying the ships were turned away because of U.S. arms sales to Taiwan, which have been under way for years, and which normally prompt protests from China. The communist government, which lays claim to Taiwan, regards such sales as interference in internal affairs.
U.S. officials told The Washington Times earlier this week that the sale of upgrading equipment for Taiwan's Patriot missile batteries was a key factor in China's refusal to allow the ship visits.