U.S.S. Kitty Hawk is towed by tug boats on arrival at its home port in Yokosuka, Japan on Tuesday Nov. 27, 2007 after being refused a Hong Kong port call by the Chinese government. (AP Photo/Katsumi Kasahara)
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by Frank James, updated at 3:40 pm with White House response
The saying “Any port in a storm” may resonate with mariners and even landlubbers around the world but apparently they’re not the ones calling the shots inside the Chinese government.
The U.S. Navy is apparently fighting mad with China because of a recent incident in which the Chinese prevented two U.S. naval ships seeking safe harbor from a Pacific storm from entering the port of Hong Kong.
As Los Angeles Times reporter Julian Barnes reports, this is a violation of maritime customs dating back centuries.And apparently, you don’t have to go to a naval academy to know this. All you need do is listen to some Jimmy Buffet lyrics.
Barnes quotes Adm. Timothy J. Keating, commander of U.S. Pacific Command:
“This is, kind of, an unwritten law amongst seamen, that if someone is in need, regardless of genus, phylum or species, you let them come in; you give them safe harbor,” Keating said. “Jimmy Buffett has songs about it, for crying out loud.”
The ships, two minesweepers named the Patriot and the Guardian, rode out the storm without damage though anyone whose been on a ship tossed around by waves and wind can identify with any of the sailors who would rather not repeat the experience anytime soon.
As Barnes notes, the incident involving the minesweepers was followed by a day by the Chinese mistreatment of the U.S. Navy’s aircraft carrier Kitty Hawk and her strike force which thought it had permission to dock in Hong Kong so the American crews could have Thanksgiving dinner with their families who had flown there for the occasion.
The Chinese foreign ministry refused the Kitty Hawk strike force entry. After the disappointed Americans aboard headed back out to sea, the Chinese government reversed itself but not in time since the Kitty Hawk by that point was 300 miles away.
The Chinese have essentially kept mum about all of this.
That’s too bad. It would be informative to hear from them directly their reasons for closing Hong Kong to U.S. warships, especially since the Chinese arguably benefit from that very same U.S. seapower. American ships patrol the sea lanes China uses to import raw materials, including oil, and to export all those manufactured goods from Chinese factories to the rest of the world.
That’s a point U.S. diplomats are no doubt making to the Chinese in an effort to prevent a repeat of last week’s incidents.
UPDATE: White House Press Secretary Dana Perino was asked at today’s West Wing press briefing about the Chinese behavior towards the U.S. Navy. Here’s the back and forth with a reporter.