China denied permission for a United States aircraft carrier battle group and other American warships to visit Hong Kong last week because of the Bush administration's proposal to sell upgrades to Patriot antimissile batteries to Taiwan, Chinese state media said today. Beijing also said that Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi had not told President Bush in a meeting Wednesday that the decisions to deny the ship visits were a "misunderstanding," as the White House had reported after the talks.
Mr. Liu Jianchao, Foreign Ministry spokesman, also said in Beijing November 30 that Mr. Bush's meeting with the Dalai Lama in Washington in October had also damaged ties between the two countries.
Days before the Kitty Hawk was turned away, China refused permission for two United States Navy minesweepers to shelter in Hong Kong's harbor during a storm and to take on supplies. The ships were later refueled at sea, the Navy said.
Port visits were suspended in 1999 when the United States bombed the Chinese embassy in Belgrade and again after the 2001 mid-air collision.
Shortly after Mr. Gates visited Beijing this month, the Pentagon announced that it would sell Taiwan upgrades to its Patriot missile system for about $940 million. . (Source: David Lague, New York Times, Nov 30, 2007