a third incident reported. Very soon we would have Submarine cat
and mouse game in south china sea.
WASHINGTON - The Chinese rejection of U.S. ship visits into Hong
Kong is broader than initially reported, the Pentagon said Friday,
revealing for the first time that a third incident had occurred
last week.
According to a defense official, a request for the USS Reuben
James, a Navy frigate, to make a New Year's holiday stop in Hong
Kong was formally denied by the Chinese last Thursday. The denial
came the same day the Chinese turned away the USS Kitty Hawk and
five ships accompanying it for a Thanksgiving port call.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the
denial had not been publicly announced, said the Reuben James,
based in Pearl Harbor, had made the port visit request in
October.
According to the official, shortly after the Kitty Hawk was turned
away, the Chinese reversed their decision and said the ship could
enter the harbor, but by then the ship was too far out to sea.
During that notification, the Chinese also told the Navy that the
Reuben James visit was being denied. No reason was given for the
refusal.
The official said the denial was both over the phone and in
writing, and added that there are no other pending requests for US
ship visits to the Hong Kong harbor.
White House press secretary Dana Perino said, "We will be able to
work it out with them."
"This incident has not prevented us from being able to work with
the Chinese. We are two very large countries, very powerful
countries," she said. "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."
Until now, the Navy has considered Hong Kong one of the sailors'
favorite post of call, with about 50 ship visits per year.
In addition to the Kitty Hawk and the Reuben James, the Chinese
also refused to let two Navy minesweepers enter Hong Kong harbor to
escape an approaching storm and receive fuel an incident Navy
officials said it found far more disturbing since it violates an
international rule of the sea to provide safe harbor for vessels in
trouble.
The minesweepers, the Patriot and the Guardian, were instead
refueled at sea and returned safely to their home port in
Japan.
Prior to the latest three incidents, the most recent port visit
denial came in 2004.
China has hinted that Congress' honoring of the Dalai Lama and U.S.
arms sales to Taiwan triggered the problems, which have cast a new
shadow over military relations between the two countries.
The Pentagon summoned a Chinese military attache to protest the
decision, which the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Adm.
Mike Mullen, called "perplexing." President Bush raised the issue
with Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi during their talks on
North Korea, Iran and other issues.
