China blames U.S. for denial of ship visit to Hong Kong [View All]

[bemildred]

Source: IHT

BEIJING: China blocked the visit of a U.S. aircraft carrier battle group and other American warships to Hong Kong last week in retaliation for the Bush administration's proposed upgrading of Taiwan's Patriot antimissile batteries, the state media reported Thursday.

Beijing also denied that Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi had told President George W. Bush in a meeting Wednesday that the canceled ship visits were a "misunderstanding," as the White House had reported after the talks.

"Reports that Foreign Minister Yang said in the United States that it was a misunderstanding do not accord with the facts," a Foreign Ministry spokesman, Liu Jianchao, said in Beijing on Thursday, adding that China had "grave concern" about U.S. weapons sales to Taiwan.

Liu also asserted that Bush's meeting with the Dalai Lama in October had damaged ties.

Read more: http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/11/29/asia/ship.php