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What Really Happened in the Taiwan Strait? Dennis Behreandt A Pacific Fleet spokesman has denied reports that the carrier Kitty Hawk was in a standoff with the Chinese Navy in November. Follow this link to the original source: "No U.S.-Chinese warship standoff in Taiwan Strait: U.S. official" Earlier stories (covered here) in the media this week, stemming from a Taiwanese source utilized by the Navy Times, reported that the U.S. aircraft carrier Kitty Hawk and the ships of her battle group had a 28-hour-long standoff with Chinese Navy ships in the Strait of Taiwan in November. That story is now being denied by the U.S. Pacific Fleet. According to Taiwan Headlines, fleet spokesman Mark Matsunaga indicated that "there were no incidents when the Kitty Hawk aircraft carrier battle group navigated through the Taiwan Strait last November."
The mainland Chinese press, however, is referring to the Kitty Hawk's transit through the Strait as an "incident." According to United Press International, the subject was brought up by Chinese reporters during a briefing with U.S. admiral Timothy Keating in Beijing on Tuesday this week. According to that report:
Whatever it was that really occurred in the Taiwan Strait,
it further raised tensions with China. Chinese press agency "Xinhua
asked the admiral what the United States would do if war breaks out across
the Taiwan Strait in 2008." Keating responded that the goal of the
U.S. "is to make sure that the situation you describe does not happen."
But when asked by the Communist Party affiliated Global Times about the
Pacific Command's evaluation of People's Liberation Army "strategic
doctrine," Keating replied with what might be termed a veiled threat.
"The Chinese profess to want to protect the things that are theirs. Included in that list, I am assuming, are the sea lines of communications that provide for the flow of commerce and energy sources," Keating said. Saber rattling aside, the "Kitty Hawk incident" illustrates the tenuous nature of our relationship with China. While the Bush administration has focused on the Middle East and Iran, that is a short-term problem. The real long-term foreign policy problem facing the nation is managing our relationship with the growing regional and future superpower that is China. Hopefully, the next administration will do a better job of managing that relationship than either the Clinton or Bush administrations have done.
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