Posted on 11/30/2007 10:28:45 AM PST by charles m
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 has 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.
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.
maybe they didn’t want us to see that stealth sub that we’re not suppose to be able to see. ;)
Considering the lost revenue, I bet some paper pusher gets shot for this.
Seriously though, this is all Pelosi’s fault. All symbolism and no substance with the Dalai Lama visit last month (it was Pelosi’s idea to give Dalai Lama the Congressional Medal of Honor). She was going to try the same thing with Turkey and the Armenian genocide issue, fortunately she failed there.
The USS Reuben James...a mighty famous ship name in the USN.
They would love to have the US Navy visit them and the merchants would love to have the money that US Navy families would spend!
Taipei is landlocked.
I don't recall Taiwan being all that big of an island - don't they have any kind of mass transit system - buses or trains?
The whole point is that Taiwan is a free and independant nation and was an ally of the United States until that POS, Jimmy Carter, left them "alone" in the world (when the United States decided to become friends and allies with the Peoples' Republic of China - who won't now allow the ships of the US Navy to enter one of their ports)...
They cannot have the US projecting any power in the area. The people may think there is a hope for some future freedom and china will not allow it.
apples and oranges dude
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, screw them and the dragon they rode in on. I guess there’ll no longer be any “Sea Stories” comming out of a WestPac cruise regarding Hong Kong. A shame too. A childhood friend of mine went into the Navy the same time I did and got the West Coast, while I got the East. When we got home for Christmas leave, we both tried to outdo each other with our deployment escapades, and his were ALWAYS better, especially the adventures from the PI and other points west.......Oh well, time to hit Brisbane!
Remember the difference between a “Sea Story” and a “Fairy Tale”, the Fairy Tale starts out as “Once upon a time,” while the Sea Story” starts out “Now this is a No-S&%^^er!”.
O.K....so anchors away!...goodbye rice benders!
When are we going to take the hint and say, “OK, fine” and halt any and all future port calls in China? There are other places to go - Phillippines, Korea, Guam, Japan, to name a few.
STOP BUYING ANYTHING FROM THE CHI-COMS.
Mainland or communist China is not our friend.
Taiwan is our friend and a democracy.
Recognizing the chi-coms and not Formosa is just wrong.
When will any of our politicians grow a spine and do what is right in SO many subjects instead of just trying to get more votes.
What a bunch of turds ALL politicians are.
If I was a Swabby, I would much prefer to visit Singapore than HK. Even S’pore has those “special entertainers” Sailors like, not top mention being a clean friendly place.
When those perishable cargoes start rotting, and Wal-Mart shelves are getting thin, we'll see if they let US ships dock in Hong Kong.
China may have us by the financial gonads, but never forget that they need us more than we need them. We just need leaders with the guts to say so.
"Manned by hard fighting men, both of honor and of fame!"
"She flew the stars and stripes of the Land of the Free,"
"But tonight she's in her grave, at the bottom of the sea!"
"Tell me what were their names, tell me what where their names"
"If you had a friend on the good Reuben James."
"Tell me what where their names, tell me what were their names,"
"If you had a friend on the good Reuben James."
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