Senior U.S.
military officers criticized China
on Tuesday for blocking a Kitty Hawk U.S. Navy aircraft carrier group
and two smaller ships access to the Hong Kong
port over the American Thanksgiving holiday last week.
"This is perplexing. It's not helpful. It is not in our view conduct
that is indicative of a country who understands its obligations as a
responsible nation," U.S. Navy Admiral Timothy Keating, commander of the
U.S. Pacific Command told reporters in Washington
by videolink from Pacific Command Headquarters in Hawaii.
Keating is responsible for all U.S. military activities in the
Pacific region.
The admiral said that hundreds of family members of the task force’s crew
had flown to Hong Kong at their own expense to
meet the ship and spend the holiday with their loved ones. China reviewed its decision and granted
permission to Kitty Hawk to enter the port,
but it was too late. The ship had already changed its course.
Beijing has not explained its decision to deny
U.S. access to that port,
said Keating and Adm. Gary Roughead, the U.S. chief of naval operations.
This is not the first disturbing incident that China is blamed for. Adm. Roughead
was more bothered when two small Navy ships that hunt for mines at sea were
caught in the middle of a storm and were denied permission to enter Hong Kong Harbor for safety.
"As someone who has been going to sea all my life, if there's one tenet
that we observe it's when somebody's in need, you provide and you sort it out
later. And that, to me, was more bothersome, so I look forward to having
discussions with the PLA navy leadership," Roughead said, according to Reuters.
He said the navy sent a tanker ship to refuel the minesweepers, the USS
Patriot and the USS guardian, which then proceeded to their homeport in Sasebo, Japan.
"That is behavior that we do not consider consonant with a nation who
advocates a peaceful rise and harmonious relations. It gives us concern,"
he said.
Admiral Keating hopes to solve the problem with accessing the Hong Kong Harbor by addressing the issue with
their Chinese counterparts. He says he does not want to reduce military
cooperation with China,
but rather to increase dialogue and avoid misunderstandings in the future.
"This is going to be a long process, in our view. We are cautiously
optimistic that we'll be able to work our way around some of these
aggravations, if you will," Keating said.
Admiral Keating said he wanted to visit China in January and would discuss
the issue then. China
has not responded affirmative to this request though.
