US moves to defuse naval row with China
WASHINGTON (AFP) — The United States said Thursday it expected China to explain why it turned a US warship away from Hong Kong, but played down the simmering dispute as "one small incident" in a sea of good relations.
"We've asked for the clarification, and I think we will get it, and then we'll be able to move beyond this," White House spokeswoman Dana Perino told reporters.
Beijing linked its decision to deny the USS Kitty Hawk a port-of-call stop to recent US arms sales to Taiwan and a public show of support for Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama which "disturbed and harmed" Sino-US ties.
Washington formally complained to China after a US aircraft carrier was denied entry for a Thanksgiving holiday stop last week that had drawn sailors' loved ones halfway around the world in hopes of a reunion.
"We have been in communication with the Chinese. We are asking them to clarify the reasons that the Kitty Hawk was turned back," said Perino, who branded the decision "wrong" but denied any rift with Beijing.
"We work cooperatively with China on so many different issues. This is one small incident. And in the big picture, in the big scheme of things, we have very good relations," the spokeswoman said.
In Beijing, foreign ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao denied that Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi had told US President George W. Bush that the US aircraft carrier was kept out of Hong Kong because of a "misunderstanding."
"On the issue of port visits, China acts in accordance with the principles of its sovereignty and approves specific visits on a case-by-case basis," Liu said one day after Yang visited the White House.
"We have taken note of the reports. I want to clarify that all the reports are not true," Liu said when asked about Yang's comments, according to Xinhua news agency.
The spokesman also implicitly linked US moves on Taiwan and the Dalai Lama to the decision to block the ship -- prompting Perino to declare Washington "surprised by that explanation."
China views the Dalai Lama as a dangerous figure seeking independence for Tibet, and considers Taiwan a renegade province that must eventually be reunited with the mainland, by force if necessary.
"Regardless, we believe it was wrong for the families of these sailors who went to Hong Kong in order to have Thanksgiving with the sailors that were on that ship, to have been denied that opportunity," she said.
"It was a tremendous disappointment for them. A lot of expense. And we hope that that would never happen again," she said, adding that she hoped a planned "hotline" between Washington and Beijing would defuse future such situations.
The first sign of trouble came November 20 when China refused to allow two US minesweepers -- the USS Patriot and the USS Guardian -- to enter Hong Kong for refuge from a tropical storm and to refuel. They refueled at sea and made it back to their home port in Sasebo, Japan without incident.
In response, the top Republican on the House Armed Services Committee, Representative Duncan Hunter, urged Bush in a letter Thursday to sit down with top lawmakers to discuss "an adjustment of US policy towards China."
"As these two incidents clearly demonstrate, China is embarking on a new more confrontational relationship with the US and we need to be prepared," wrote Hunter, a candidate for the party's presidential nomination.
Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for East Asian affairs David Sedney complained formally to the Chinese military attachi in Washington on Wednesday.
"It is not, in our view, conduct that is indicative of a country who understands its obligations as a responsible nation," said Admiral Tim Keating, the head of the US Pacific Command.
