China said Thursday it has decided to allow the US carrier USS
Kitty Hawk to dock in Hong Kong for rest during the Thanksgiving
holiday.
Foreign Ministry spokesperson Liu Jianchao said at a regular
press conference: "Such a decision is out of humanitarian
considerations, and decided on a case-by-case basis."
The decision was made in line with the principles of
sovereignty, Liu said, declining to disclose the detailed
process.
He did not explain why USS Kitty Hawk had originally been barred
from entering the port.
The USS Kitty Hawk was to have arrived in Hong Kong on Wednesday
to give its crew four days shore leave, reports said earlier.
The USS Kitty Hawk carrier, which was commissioned in 1961, is
nearing the end of its service life and will return to the US in
2008 to be decommissioned. It is the Navy's oldest ship in active
service and the only US aircraft carrier permanently deployed
abroad.
(Xinhua News Agency November 22, 2007)
