La Chine indique Bush lancer son crochet

AP

Le ministre des affaires étrangères Yang Jiechi de Chinois a dit le Président George W. Bush mercredi ce refus de Pékin a laissé les États-Unis Le porte-avions de marine dans Hong Kong était un « malentendu, » la Maison Blanche dite.

Le département de la défense a indiqué qu'il avait publié une plainte officielle en Chine et que Pékin n'avait toujours pas fourni l'explication suffisante pour bloquer le porte-avions de faucon d'USS Kitty, et huit bateaux voyageant avec lui, entrée vers Hong Kong pour une visite long-prévue de vacances de thanksgiving.

Bush brought up the issue with China’s foreign minister in a meeting at the White House.

“The president raised the issue about the recent aborted port call by the USS Kitty Hawk. Foreign Minister Yang assured the president that it was a misunderstanding,” White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said.

China also denied access last week to two smaller U.S. Navy ships, the minesweepers USS Guardian and USS Patriot, seeking refuge from an approaching storm. Top U.S. Navy officers said that decision was more troublesome than the move to block the Kitty Hawk because the sailors needed safe harbour.

Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell said the complaint to China was related to both incidents.

“It is baffling,” he said. “It’s regrettable and we have not to date received sufficient explanation as to why it took place.”

Beijing’s action came as a surprise just weeks after a visit to China by U.S. Defence Secretary Robert Gates that has been described by U.S. officials as positive.

Relations between China and the United States have improved since 2001, when the countries’ militaries broke contact following a collision between a Chinese fighter jet and U.S. spy plane. 

But many differences remain between Beijing and Washington over issues such as China’s military build-up and U.S. weapon sales to Taiwan.

There has been speculation that China’s move to block the ships was related to irritation over U.S. plans to sell Taiwan an upgrade to its missile system and a meeting between Bush and exiled Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama.

Bush and Yang also discussed North Korea, Iran and other bilateral issues in their meeting, Perino said.

(Reporting by Tabassum Zakaria and Kristin Roberts; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)

Comment on 'China tells Bush to Sling his Hook' :

RSS TrackBack URL

Related News: