From Navy Times

 

Report: Chinese ships confronted Kitty Hawk

Kyodo News Service

Posted : Tuesday Jan 15, 2008 16:08:22 EST

 

TAIPEI — A Chinese attack submarine and destroyer shadowed U.S. warships in November in the Taiwan Strait, sparking a 28-hour standoff that brought the group to a battle-ready halt in the tense waters, a report in a Taiwan daily said Tuesday.

 

The confrontation occurred as the Navy aircraft carrier Kitty Hawk and other ships in its battle group were heading back to Japan following China’s sudden cancellation of a long-scheduled holiday port call in Hong Kong, the China Times said, citing U.S. military sources.

 

The carrier strike group encountered Chinese destroyer Shenzhen and a Song-class sub in the strait on Nov. 23, causing the group to halt and ready for battle, as the Chinese vessels also stopped amid the 28-hour confrontation, the Chinese-language daily reported.

 

The Kitty Hawk battle group had planned to pass the Thanksgiving holiday in Hong Kong as it had done in previous years, but China refused it entry without giving a reason.

 

By the time China reversed its decision, the U.S. ships had already turned around and headed for their home port in Japan. China later told the U.S. that its earlier refusal was a “misunderstanding.”

 

But that incident came on the heels of China’s refusal of safe harbor in Hong Kong for two Navy minesweepers seeking refuge from a brewing storm. Due to that refusal, the ships had to get refueled at sea so they could return to their home port in Sasebo, Japan.

 

The two incidents have ruffled feathers in Washington.

 

Adm. Timothy Keating, who heads the U.S. Pacific Command, is in Beijing this week to discuss what he has called China’s “perplexing” refusals, its worrisome weapons programs and U.S.-China military ties.

 

He told reporters Tuesday that U.S. warships will cross through the Taiwan Strait whenever they choose to.

 

“We don’t need China’s permission to go through the Taiwan Strait,” Keating said, stressing that it is international waters. “We will exercise our free right of passage whenever and wherever we choose.”

 

China has expressed its “grave concern” to the U.S. over the Kitty Hawk’s transit through the Taiwan Strait.

 

Beijing claims Taiwan as its own, vowing to attack the self-ruled island if it moves to formalize its de facto independence.

 

The U.S., Taiwan’s chief security benefactor, is legally obligated to help defend the island in the face of Chinese saber-rattling.

 

In 2006, a Chinese attack sub stalked the Kitty Hawk without being detected until it surfaced within firing range of the group.

 

Last November’s incident, however, could have been unintentional as the Shenzhen was also headed to Tokyo for an historic port call there, just as the Kitty Hawk was denied Hong Kong entry.

 

Destroyers are known to travel with a submarine escort.

 

The confrontation ended without incident as all vessels continued on course toward Japan by Nov. 24.

From Navy Times

 

No standoff between carrier, China, DoD says

By Chris Amos - Staff writer

Posted : Thursday Jan 17, 2008 12:21:54 EST

 

Defense Department officials are denying reports in the Asian news media that the Kitty Hawk Carrier Strike Group was involved in a 28-hour standoff with a Chinese destroyer and submarine while transiting the Taiwan Strait last November.

 

The Kyodo News Service reported Tuesday that the strike group came to a “battle ready halt” during the standoff with a Chinese destroyer and submarine, which it said happened a day after the strike group was refused permission to spend a four-day Thanksgiving day holiday in Hong Kong as it has done in previous years.

 

The Kyodo News Service report was based on an earlier report in a Taiwanese newspaper that cited U.S. military sources.

 

The confrontation occurred during the strike group’s return to its homeport at Naval Base Yokosuka, Japan, the media outlets reported.

 

But Defense Department spokesman Marine Maj. Stewart Upton said the report was false.

 

“There were no incidents during the Kitty Hawk Carrier Strike Group’s transit of the Taiwan Strait last November,” Upton said in a statement. “The Taiwan Strait is international water, and these transits are routine. We will exercise our free right of passage whenever we choose.”

 

Upton declined to say whether the Kitty Hawk strike group had made any contact with a Chinese destroyer and submarine during the dates in question or how it responded if contact was made, but a second Defense Department official made a more pointed denial.

 

“The story is flatly wrong,” the official said Thursday. “The Kitty Hawk had no unusual encounters during its transit back through the Taiwan Strait. There’s no truth to it. We flatly deny that there was any kind of standoff.”

 

The Kyodo News Service report came amid rising tensions between the U.S. and Chinese governments. American officials have recently protested the Chinese government’s decision to turn away the Kitty Hawk and another decision to deny two Navy minesweepers refuge from a brewing storm, forcing the Patriot and Guardian to refuel at sea and return through rough seas to their homeport in Sasebo, Japan.

 

That incident happened four days before the Kitty Hawk strike group was turned away.