China Refused Kitty Hawk's Stay in Hong Kong due to Naval Exercise Aimed at Taiwan

[Ryan Ruck]

China Refused Kitty Hawk's Stay in Hong Kong due to Naval Exercise Aimed at Taiwan

Ming Bao of Hong Kong reported on Nov. 24 that large-scale Naval Exercise by PLAN is a reason why China refused U.S. carrier Kitty Hawk's scheduled stay in Hong Kong for a while.

According to sources, PLAN's Eastern and Southern Fleet conducted large-scale joint military exercise recently in the area of Pacific east of Taiwan, and north of Philippines, practicing hypothetical blockade of Taiwan.

Russian-made missile frigates and submarines, 022 stealth missiles, and anti-ship cruise missiles were all deployed in this exercise, while China's indigenously developed AWACS were reportedly spotted in the sky above Nanjing.

Airspace control of eastern and southern coastal area, which will end on Nov. 25, is also said to be related to this naval exercise. Since Nov. 20, airspace control has been in effect in the sky over cities of eastern coast, resulting in hours of delay of local air flights.

Sources reportedly said that, during the exercise, some Chinese ships ran into Kitty Hawk's battle group in the international waters, sailing toward Hong Kong.

Kitty Hawk was due to enter Hong Kong on the morning of Nov. 21 in time for Thanksgiving Day holidays starting Nov. 22, but China refused it at the last minute without any explanation. Then they reversed their decision on Nov. 22, allowing the entry.

Admiral Timothy Keating, Commander, U.S. Pacific Command, said Chinese decision is "dismaying and worrisome," and China had refused entry of another U.S. Navy ships a few days before.

Two torpedo removal ships of U.S. Navy reportedly ran into bad weather in South China Sea at the time and asked the stay in Hong Kong and fuel supply but China refused.

In short, China wanted to hide the details of their naval exercise and combat capability by refusing the stay of Kitty Hawk in Hong Kong, whose battle group boasts sophisticated information-gathering ability.

Despite China's change of the decision, Kitty Hawk has already returned to Yokosuka, Japan, and its 8,000 sailors had to spend Thanksgiving Day on board on Nov. 22.

[American Patriot]

More....

Japan Refusal Adds To US-China Carrier Spat
Financial Times ^ | Nov 30, 2007 | Demetri Sevastopulo and Mure Dickie



Japan has refused a Chinese request to tour an advanced combat ship as the US-China spat over Beijing’s refusal to allow a US aircraft carrier to dock in Hong Kong last week spilled over into Sino-Japanese military relations.


A person familiar with the Japanese decision said that the Pentagon said the move would not be appropriate given China’s decision last week to deny the USS Kitty Hawk permission to dock in Hong Kong over Thanksgiving.


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 the Pentagon opposed the move.


He added that the US was also concerned about the leaking of sensitive information. The Pentagon was concerned given the previous unauthorised removal of a computer disk from an Aegis destroyer that hurt otherwise strong US-Japanese military relations.


The White House on Thursday asked China to clarify statements that the move to block the Kitty Hawk from entering Hong Kong was not a misunderstanding.


The White House said on Wednesday that Yang Jiechi, China’s foreign minister, had told Mr Bush on a visit that the Kitty Hawk decision was the result of a “misunderstanding”. However, Liu Jianchao, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesman, on Thursday denied the US account, saying it “did not accord with the facts”.


Beijing’s decision to block the Kitty Hawk visit and earlier barring of two US destroyers from taking refuge in Hong Kong from a storm has angered the US navy and threatened the recent warming in cross-Pacific military ties.
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(Excerpt) Read more at ft.com ...