Chinese say "No" to Kitty Hawk

[Phantasee]

Reuters, as usual

U.S. aircraft carrier denied access to Hong Kong
Wed Nov 21, 2007 10:22pm EST

HONG KONG (Reuters) - China has refused permission for a U.S. aircraft carrier and accompanying vessels to visit Hong Kong for a long-planned Thanksgiving holiday visit, the U.S. State Department said on Wednesday.

The Kitty Hawk group and its crew of 8,000 U.S. airmen and sailors had been expected in Hong Kong on Wednesday, but will now spend the holiday on the South China Sea.

Hundred of relatives of crew members of the USS Kitty Hawk had flown to Hong Kong to celebrate Thanksgiving with their loved ones. Hong Kong has been a regular port of call for U.S. sailors on "R & R" (rest and recuperation) since the Vietnam War.

The Chinese move comes as a surprise just weeks after a visit to China by Defense Secretary Robert Gates, which he said he hoped would lead to a long-term dialogue.

"At present, it appears the USS Kitty Hawk strike group will not be making a port call in Hong Kong as previously planned as a result of a last minute denial by the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs," State Department spokeswoman Nicole Thompson said.

The United States was pressing China for an explanation and to reconsider its decision, she added.

There are several possible sources of discontent that may have prompted the decision -- including U.S. plans to sell Taiwan a $940 million upgrade to its missile system and a meeting last month between President George W Bush and the Dalai Lama, the Tibetan Buddhist leader who Beijing considers a traitor.

The Foreign Ministry in Beijing declined to make an immediate comment.

Last year, a Chinese submarine surfaced uncomfortably close to the Kitty Hawk near the Japanese island of Okinawa, an incident that highlighted the potential for friction between the two powers.

"The U.S. Consul General in Hong Kong is in touch with the Kitty Hawk families," said Anthony Hutchinson, a Public affairs director at the U.S. Consulate in Hong Kong.

"I've seen some spouses and family come in, they're now sightseeing ... they'll adjust," said another U.S. consular official who asked not to be named.

The move by Beijing coincides with "airspace controls" on Wednesday which Xinhua news agency said affected the air travel plans of 7,000 people in south and east China.

The controls were introduced for "unspecified reasons".

The Kitty Hawk, laid down in 1956, has the second longest active service of any ship in the U.S. navy after the USS Constitution, a 208-year-old ceremonial sailing ship kept in Boston Harbor.

It is the only conventionally fuelled carrier in the U.S. fleet and is due to be decommissioned next year.

(Reporting by Joanne Allen, James Pomfret and Lindsay Beck; editing by Nick Macfie)

Interesting move on the part of the Chinese. Anyone familiar with the situation who can comment as to why, maybe?

[Jadeite]

I'm guessing its just to serve as a reminder to us that they can deny port visits any time they please.

[Gustav32Vasa]

The Kitty Hawk can enter HK on humantarian aid apperently.

[The Duchess of Zeon]

I'm guessing its just to serve as a reminder to us that they can deny port visits any time they please.

They can't, actually, not under international law. The taskgroup could arrive to revictulate, but it would have to leave within 48 hours, and obviously such an act would be distinctly unwelcome.

[Keevan_Colton]

I'm guessing its just to serve as a reminder to us that they can deny port visits any time they please.

They can't, actually, not under international law. The taskgroup could arrive to revictulate, but it would have to leave within 48 hours, and obviously such an act would be distinctly unwelcome.

To do what?

[Ar-Adunakhor]

To do what?

Restock consumables.

[Tanasinn]

This just seems to be typical diplomatic childishness to me. I highly doubt it'll come to anything.

[General Trelane (Retired)]

This just seems to be typical diplomatic childishness to me. I highly doubt it'll come to anything.

Except for the disappointment of the families of the men and women serving aboard that strike group.

[Tanasinn]

I meant that it won't come to any sort of international disaster, not that it would affect no one at all.

[The Duchess of Zeon]

I'm guessing its just to serve as a reminder to us that they can deny port visits any time they please.

They can't, actually, not under international law. The taskgroup could arrive to revictulate, but it would have to leave within 48 hours, and obviously such an act would be distinctly unwelcome.

To do what?

To revictual, and if necessary, refuel, the ship. Victuals are naval supplies and stores and food for the crew, as a generic term. I screwed up the term slightly but it is the approach word. Anyway, under the Geneva conventions, you have to let foreign warships revictual and refuel in your ports.

[Phantasee]

They can't, actually, not under international law. The taskgroup could arrive to revictulate, but it would have to leave within 48 hours, and obviously such an act would be distinctly unwelcome.

To do what?

To revictual, and if necessary, refuel, the ship. Victuals are naval supplies and stores and food for the crew, as a generic term. I screwed up the term slightly but it is the approach word. Anyway, under the Geneva conventions, you have to let foreign warships revictual and refuel in your ports.

I'm going to assume that applies as long as you aren't at war with that foreign power?

[Glocksman]

I'd assume so as well.
After all, can't you see the Bismarck pulling into Portsmouth to refuel and resupply in 1941?

[The Duchess of Zeon]

Actually, it still applies in wartime in neutral countries. That's what the Graf Spee was doing in Montevido, for instance. But you can only stay for 48 - 72 hours, or in special circumstances, as long as necessary to repair the seaworthiness only of your vessel; if you stay beyond that period, the neutral power is required under international law to intern the warship in question for the duration of hostilities.

[Stuart Mackey]

I'm guessing its just to serve as a reminder to us that they can deny port visits any time they please.

They can't, actually, not under international law. The taskgroup could arrive to revictulate, but it would have to leave within 48 hours, and obviously such an act would be distinctly unwelcome.

Thats not entirely correct.
Link in a nBSG viper uniform

New Zealand Nuclear Free Zone, Disarmament, and Arms Control Act 1987

2)The Prime Minister may only grant approval for the entry into the internal waters of New Zealand by foreign warships if the Prime Minister is satisfied that the warships will not be carrying any nuclear explosive device upon their entry into the internal waters of New Zealand.

11 Visits by nuclear powered ships

Entry into the internal waters of New Zealand by any ship whose propulsion is wholly or partly dependent on nuclear power is prohibited.

The act does not apply to a ship or aircraft in distress, nevertheless, US warships have not been to NZ port in many years. National Sovereignty is a tricky thing.

[Ypoknons]

Not good for the bars in Wanchai. And I, for one, resent Beijing meddling in something that's been happening for years and years.