China bars another US ship and military cargo aircraft from HK

China blocked another US warship and a military cargo aircraft from gaining access to Hong Kong in the latest in a string of refusals that threatens to jeopardise the recent improvement in military relations between the two countries.



The USS Reuben James had sought permission to visit Hong Kong over the New Year holidays, but the request was denied. A separate request for a C-17 cargo aircraft to make its quarterly visit to Hong Kong to supply the US consulate was also refused, according to US military officials.



China also refused to allow USS Kitty Hawk permission to visit Hong Kong over Thanksgiving. Beijing reversed the Kitty Hawk decision after John Negroponte, the deputy secretary of state, complained to the Chinese ambassador to the US. It also recently refused requests from two US minesweepers that were seeking refuge from a storm.



The White House said Yang Jiechi, the Chinese foreign minister, had told President George W Bush that the Kitty Hawk incident was a misunderstanding? But a spokesman for the Chinese ministry of foreign affairs later disputed that claim. A senior US official said yesterday that Yang had claimed that the misunderstanding?involved the Chinese not understanding the importance of Thanksgiving to US sailors.



Geoff Morrell, the Pentagon press secretary, said last Friday the incidents have not inhibited our ability to work together? He added that a Chinese military delegation would meet Pentagon officials on Monday for discussions that would include the installation of a telephone hotline between the US and Chinese militaries.



The spat has also spilled over into Sino-Japanese military relations. Japan week refused a Chinese request for its soldiers to tour an advanced combat ship. The move marred the historic visit this week of a Chinese missile destroyer to Japan, the first by a Chinese naval ship since the second world war.



China had requested that the sailors on the Shenzhen be allowed to tour an Aegis-class destroyer, but a person familiar with the Japanese decision said the Pentagon had told Japan that the move would not be appropriate, given the Kitty Hawk incident. The US embassy in Japan denied that the US military had influenced the decision.



The Pentagon was concerned given the previous unauthorised removal of a computer disk from an Aegis destroyer that hurt US-Japanese military relations.





Source: Business Standard