Beijing – China’s last-minute cancellation of a U.S. Navy visit to Hong Kong wasn’t a misunderstanding, but rather a result of ties with Washington being “disturbed and harmed,” the Chinese Foreign Ministry said Thursday.
Spokesman Liu Jianchao did not directly say what had prompted the cancellation, although he alluded to recent actions that angered Beijing, including the U.S. Congress honoring the Dalai Lama and U.S. arms sales to Taiwan.
Liu denounced a report that said Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi told U.S. President George W. Bush that barring aircraft carrier USS Kitty Hawk from entering Hong Kong harbor last week was a misunderstanding.
“The report is not in line with the facts,” Liu said at a regular news briefing. He refused to elaborate.
Liu appeared to indicate that China had canceled the visit deliberately to register its displeasure over U.S. actions, as it has done occasionally with previous Hong Kong port calls.
China had later reversed its decision denying entry to the USS Kitty Hawk and its escort vessels, but only after the strike group had already left the area. The ships did not turn back to carry out the planned Thanksgiving visit and continued to their home port in Japan.
“We have all along, on the principle of sovereignty, approved (port calls) on a case by case basis. Out of humanitarian considerations, we agreed to allow the strike group to make a port call,” Liu said.
Beijing had earlier refused port entry for two U.S. Navy minesweepers seeking to refuel and find shelter from an approaching storm. The U.S. Defense Department said it was officially protesting the Chinese moves.
Liu said “erroneous” actions of the U.S. had “disturbed and harmed” relations.
He pointed to the U.S. Congress awarding its highest civilian honor to the Dalai Lama last month. Though 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.
Also hurting relations were arms sales to Taiwan, an island which China regards as a renegade province, he said.
