WASHINGTON — Tensions between the U.S. and China rose slightly Wednesday as the Pentagon lodged a formal protest over Beijing's refusal to permit American naval vessels access to Hong Kong and President Bush questioned the visiting Chinese foreign minister about last week's snub.
White House Press Secretary Dana Perino said that China's foreign minister, Yang Jiechi, told Bush the issue was a "misunderstanding."
Perino said Bush first raised the issue in a White House meeting, but said she could not detail the nature of the misunderstanding.
Some experts on U.S.-Asian military relations saw the matter as an outgrowth of discomfort among hard-liners in China with the Bush administration's open-armed welcome last month of the Dalai Lama, the exiled spiritual leader of Chinese-held Tibet.
"There is a lot of deep anxiety about the Dalai Lama, and you see a host of signals being sent about that discomfort," said Kurt Campbell, a former deputy assistant secretary of Defense responsible for Asia. "The Kitty Hawk was meant to send a signal of profound displeasure."
The Pentagon's formal protest was lodged by a senior Defense official, David Sedney, who called Beijing's defense attache in Washington to the Pentagon to accept the objection. The complaint focused on the Chinese refusal to allow the aircraft carrier Kitty Hawk and several accompanying vessels to make a scheduled stop in Hong Kong on Thanksgiving.
Two top Navy admirals on Tuesday sharply criticized the Chinese refusal to accommodate the Kitty Hawk as well as, earlier, two minesweepers, the Patriot and the Guardian, which had sought refuge in Hong Kong on Nov. 20 to refuel and to escape an approaching storm. Navy officials said refusing any ship safe harbor in a storm is a breach of maritime traditions.
Relations between the U.S. military and the People's Liberation Army of China are complex. Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates visited Beijing on Nov. 5, hoping to help improve relations and increase the number of contacts between the two forces.
"I'm aware of no hiccups at all in our efforts to increase military-to-military cooperation, exchanges with the Chinese," said Pentagon Press Secretary Geoff Morrell. "I think that's why this incident is so baffling to us, because there was no indication at all prior to the Kitty Hawk being refused entry to the port of Hong Kong that there was any reason or any cause for concern."
