U.S. and Hong Kong (2002)

State Department Noon Briefing

Following is the State Department transcript:

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U.S. Department of State

Daily Press Briefing
March 26, 2002
Briefer: Richard Boucher, Spokesman

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QUESTION: On US-China relations, Hu Jintao, the vice president and possibly the next president, was supposed to visit the United States but there hasn't been any announcements. Do you know, has it been postponed for some reason?

MR. BOUCHER: I think any announcements on that would come from the Chinese Government, not from us.

QUESTION: And there was a US warship visit to Hong Kong was canceled recently; am I correct there?

MR. BOUCHER: Yes, you are. Let me give you the rundown on ship visits to Hong Kong. The Chinese Government denied a request for the USS Curtis Wilbur, a US Navy Arleigh Burke-Class Destroyer, to visit Hong Kong from April 5 to 9. The ship has a crew of 346, operates out of Yokosuka, Japan. This would have been a routine port call. They didn't give any reason for the disapproval. They notified our Consulate General in Hong Kong on March 18th.

Over the last year or so we have had a number of ship visits to Hong Kong. The USS Germantown was there in February, end of February. The John Stennis battle group, with a number of ships, including an aircraft carrier, was there in late November. We had minesweepers in July. The USS Constellation, another carrier, visited in August of 2000. So we do see ship visits to Hong Kong as an ongoing and routine stop for the US Navy, but occasionally, yes, we have been turned down by the Chinese, who are in charge of this matter for Hong Kong.

QUESTION: If I could follow up, do you think this may be related to Chinese displeasure over the contacts with Taiwanese officials, US contacts with Taiwanese officials?

MR. BOUCHER: In their announcements and statements and their notification to us, they haven't given any rationale for this. As I said, we see it as a routine matter for US ships to visit Hong Kong. We see it as part of Hong Kong's status as an open and free port, and we see this matter as distinct from official US Navy ship visits to Mainland Chinese ports. But if you want to understand the Chinese action, you would have to ask them way.

QUESTION: Are you appealing the decision in any way, or do you consider the matter closed and you're not going to --

MR. BOUCHER: I think when it comes down to it -- and having been in Hong Kong, I've dealt with a few of these -- the practical matters are that once you are turned down you have to reschedule a stop for the ship, you have to make all the logistical arrangements, so there's not a whole lot of time to go back -- and as I said, in this particular area, China does have the responsibility of saying yes or no.

QUESTION: Has there been any reciprocal move by the US to deny access of any kind of, you know, Chinese military unit to any place they might be wanting to visit that's a US possession?

MR. BOUCHER: I don't know of any such opportunity or decision, but you might check with the Pentagon and see if there is.

QUESTION: Please pardon my ignorance of the exact timing of your career in Hong Kong, but were there ever any -- did the British Government ever turn down, or the Hong Kong Government under Britain ever turn down one of these requests? Did you ever deal with --

MR. BOUCHER: I don't remember the British Government ever turning any down, but I remember a couple the Chinese turned down while I was there.

QUESTION: Okay. And the other thing is you see this as distinct from Mainland just because of the SAR status; is that right?

MR. BOUCHER: Yes, Special Administrative Region.

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