No U.S.-Chinese warship standoff in Taiwan Strait: U.S. official
ROC Central News Agency
2008-01-16 20:26:20
Los Angeles, Jan. 15 (CNA) There were no incidents when the Kitty Hawk aircraft carrier battle group navigated through the Taiwan Strait last November, a spokesman for the U.S. Pacific Fleet said Tuesday.
Mark Matsunaga was responding to media reports that the American battle group engaged in a 28-hour standoff with Chinese warships trailing it when it passed through the Taiwan Strait on its way back to Japan last November after being denied entry to Hong Kong by the Chinese authorities.
According to the reports, the battle group chose to navigate through the Taiwan Strait as a gesture of protest against China's rejection of its application for a port call at Hong Kong harbor for safety concerns as a typhoon was in the Pacific at the time.
The media report said China sent a Song-class submarine and the Shenzhen guided missile destroyer to trail the Kitty Hawk battle group during its voyage through the Taiwan Strait.
Noting that the Taiwan Strait is international waters, Matsunaga said the Kitty Hawk battle group just made a regular passage through the waters.
Pacific Fleet warships will continue to pass through the Taiwan Strait whenever they need to do so, he added.
(By Chu Lu-sheng and Sofia Wu)
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