US ship caused China 'grave concern' (USS Kitty Hawk & 'sensitivity' over Taiwan Strait by China)

BEIJING - China said Tuesday it expressed "grave concern" over the USS Kitty Hawk's passage through the politically sensitive Taiwan Strait on its return to Japan.

The U.S. aircraft carrier had been barred by China from entering Hong Kong for a Thanksgiving port call.

Mainland Chinese authorities reversed their decision, but by then the ships were too far out to sea and did not turn back.

"U.S. officials informed China at that time that it took the route because of a storm," Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang said at a briefing. "China expressed grave concern to the U.S. and requested the U.S. to take prudent moves in this highly sensitive area."

Before the Kitty Hawk incident, ties between the two sides were already frayed over the decision by Congress, with President Bush's support, to give the Dalai Lama its highest civilian honor, as well as by American arms sales to China's rival, Taiwan.

Although the Tibetan spiritual leader is lauded in much of the world as a figure of moral authority, Beijing demonizes the monk and claims he seeks to destroy China's sovereignty by pushing for independence for Tibet.

China regards Taiwan as part of its territory, although the two split in 1949. China has threatened to use force if the island moves to formalize its de facto independence.

Washington's decision to sell Taiwan an anti-missile defense system has been a sensitive point with China. Washington encourages the sale of defensive weapons to Taiwan and is obligated by the Taiwan Relations Act to maintain sufficient force in the Pacific as a deterrent against China. But the act does not require the defense of Taiwan by U.S. forces if the island comes under attack from the mainland.

In recent weeks, the Chinese have denied entry to the USS Reuben James, a Navy frigate, and two Navy minesweepers.

Added analysis:

Analysis: Behind the Kitty Hawk spat

Published: Dec. 3, 2007 at 12:21 PM

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By ANDREI CHANG
HONG KONG, Dec. 3 (UPI) -- Ever since former Taiwan President Lee Teng-hui put forward his two-state theory in 1996 -- implying that Taiwan and China were separate states -- the U.S. aircraft carrier battle group has quickly made an appearance in Hong Kong whenever tensions arose in the Taiwan Strait.

The appearance of the USS Kitty Hawk has marked particularly significant occasions, compared with visits by other aircraft carriers. On March 6, 2004, ahead of Taiwan's presidential election and a referendum on whether the island should acquire anti-missile weapons to defend itself against mainland China, it was the same Kitty Hawk that visited Hong Kong.

There are strong signals that Beijing's refusal to permit the Kitty Hawk to enter Hong Kong for the Thanksgiving holiday had to do with the U.S. decision to sell Taiwan an upgrade to three sets of Patriot II ground-to-air missiles, with a price tag of approximately $930 million. The decision was announced by the U.S. administration right after Defense Secretary Robert Gates' visit to Beijing on Nov. 5.

First of all, from Beijing's perspective, the timing of the announcement was sensitive. The U.S. approval of the sale ahead of Taiwan's March presidential election and referendum on joining the United Nations sends Taipei the wrong signal, in Beijing's view.

Second, the upgraded Patriot II technology is intended to boost Taiwan's capability to intercept ballistic missiles, and Beijing thinks this procurement will undermine strategic stability in the Taiwan Strait. Beijing is consistently sensitive to such arms sales to Taiwan.

Thirdly, the U.S. decision to sell arms to Taiwan immediately following a top-level military visit to China is out of line with the traditional Chinese mindset. To Beijing, this was a serious betrayal and a huge loss of face.

Some have speculated that President Bush's meeting with the Dalai Lama was a factor in China's decision to block the Kitty Hawk from Hong Kong. Beijing is taking an increasingly hysterical stance on the danger of simultaneous crises over independence erupting in Tibet and Taiwan. Nonetheless, this doesn't appear to be the root cause of Beijing's decision.

China's behavior has been consistent over the past 10 years of U.S.-China interactions. Ever since former Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping introduced the strategic principle of reducing friction with the United States, Beijing has held that political tensions should be handled by political means, economic conflicts should be resolved through economic means, and the Taiwan issue should be treated as a regional security matter.

Tibet has never been an issue in the U.S.-China military and strategic relationship. Japan also received the Dalai Lama this month, and yet the PLA navy's No. 167 guided-missile destroyer visited Japan last week as originally scheduled.

Why would Beijing then change its mind and grant last-minute permission for the Kitty Hawk to enter Hong Kong, and why did the United States respond by refusing this offer?

The relationship between major powers is sometimes like that between a man and a woman; there is a constant struggle for dominance. The USS Kitty Hawk had already arrived in Hong Kong waters when Beijing denied berthing permission. Beijing's message was simple: The United States cannot take its welcome for granted; it should not forget that China holds decision-making power in this part of the world. Having sent that message, it could then allow the ship entry on "humanitarian grounds."

On the other hand, Washington's decision not to anchor the Kitty Hawk after this reversal sent the message that the United States is not to be trifled with. The United States then retaliated against Beijing's snub by sailing the aircraft carrier group through the Taiwan Strait on the way to its home port in Japan.

Since the beginning of this year, this writer has warned on several occasions that the situation in the Taiwan Strait is at its highest risk since the end of the Cold War; it is relaxed on the surface but extremely tense underneath.

It happened that the Kitty Hawk's appearance in the area coincided with large-scale joint exercises between the Chinese air force and navy in the vicinity of Taiwan. The People's Liberation Army's air force was conducting an unprecedented fighter transfer exercise with the East and South China Sea Fleets, the largest such war games so far this year.

As many as nine airports, including those in Shanghai and Guangzhou, were under military aviation control from Nov. 18-25. Nearly 10,000 passengers were stuck in airports across the region as hundreds of commercial flights were postponed during the exercises.

It is worth noting that these exercises were conducted simultaneously in both the Nanjing and Guangzhou military regions, obviously aimed at practicing coordinated combat operations between the two commands. Almost all the crack air force units of the two regions were involved.

Controlling such a large fleet of aviation units with a traditional Soviet-style ground-based command system would be virtually impossible. Thus, it was no surprise that Chinese Internet bloggers claimed they saw KJ200 AWACS in the air space over Shanghai, Nanjing and Wuxi, which would have allowed effective coordination and command from the air.

Also in mid-November, the PLA navy's South and East Sea Fleets held a large-scale joint exercise involving guided-missile destroyers and frigates and at least three Type 022 missile boats in a series of concerted operations. The fleet comprised the navy's crack systems and the exercises called for coordinated use of its best weapon systems. The navy's new-generation battleships are fitted with tactical data link systems, giving them an improved ability to coordinate combat operations.

As tensions remain high in the region, China is readying itself for any challenge. Under these circumstances, the military spat between the United States and China sends a warning from each side to the other not to act rashly.

The last time I checked, the Straits of Taiwan are international waters and not the territory of China.

They are. It is widely recognized that territorial waters only extend 12 miles from the shore, though some countries claim more territory.

China still considers Taiwan to be part of China, not an independent nation. We didn't invade their territorial waters, but we did place a rather powerful military force between the mainland and what they consider a rebel province.

Let's face it. An uninvited aircraft carrier group 50 or so miles off of your costs is cause for concern regardless of if they are in international waters or not.

They sent us a message by barring the aircraft carrier group from Hong Kong over Thanksgiving. This was our reply. They got the message, and are letting us know they aren't happy about it.

China continues to send the message that they are a powerful and independent nation and that they refuse to relinquish their claim to Taiwan. We continue to support self determination for Taiwan, and let them know we won't be bullied into abandoning Taiwan.

I don't see either side changing their stance any time soon, and while it does create tensions, I don't forsee it boiling over into a shooting war any time soon, though there is a good chance that it will sometime in the future, so we need to be ever vigilant.

Allow me to contribute a story, a Sea Story from days gone by involving the Commies, the US Navy and Hong Kong and Saigon. This account comes from my ship's cruise book circa 1964.

USS PIEDMONT (AD-17) was given a rare opportunity in July of this year. On 3 June of 64, the crew of the SS A&J Mid-America, a merchant vessel, deserted the ship in the Saigon River. Efforts of the American Embassy to raise a crew proved futile. Moving the ship to a safe port was imperative since sinking of the ship in thr River could block navigation and endanger the US Military and Economic Assistance Program.

The Embassy called on the Navy for help. CTF 73 ordered PIEDMONT to provide and OinC and a nucleus crew of 4 officers and 20 enlisted men to move the ship to BCC, Hong Kong with the assistance of USS TAWASA (ATF-92) and USS CURRENT (ARS-22). The hand picked crew was airlifted to Saigon (from Subic Bay, PI) on 1 July. A preliminary inspection revealed that the ship had been ransacked and left in unbelievably filthy condition. All hands turned to with vigor and the ship was ready to go by 4 July.

Steaming in company with TAWASA and CURRENT, the trip was uneventful until the group was passing the Chinese Communist held Islands of Pai-Li and Pei Chein Shan on her approach to Hon Kong Harbor.

Here she received an ominous warning to "Leave the waters immediately" and later to "Stop".

Ignoring these warnings, she continued into the harbor without incident. Once safely anchored, the ship was turned over to the American Consul General.

The crew was then billeted aboard U.S. Ship to await the return (arrival) of PIEDMONT.

At the time, Hong Kong was a British Crown Colony. Kinda proud my shipmates told the Commies to go pound sand. NAVPERS awarded the entire Ship's Company the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal for a job Well Done.

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