Apparently not appreciating all those Return to Sender expenses over their exports of poisoned food and toys, the Communist overlords of China petulantly decided to take out their frustrations on the U.S. Navy and hundreds of sailors' families. Nice touch.
China blocked a long-planned Thanksgiving visit to Hong Kong by a U.S. aircraft carrier group, then abruptly changed its mind on Thursday. But it was too late to save the holiday visit. A U.S. official said the trip has since been scrapped and the ships continued steaming to their Japanese base.Posted by Alan at November 22, 2007 10:09 AMThe USS Kitty Hawk group and its 8,000 airmen and sailors were expected in Hong Kong on Wednesday, but the U.S. State Department said the visit had been refused by China.
Hundreds of relatives of U.S. crew members had flown to Hong Kong to celebrate Thanksgiving on Thursday. Later in the day, China appeared to have relented, announcing the carrier would be allowed to stop by the former British colony after all.
"We have decided to allow the Kitty Hawk to stay in Hong Kong during Thanksgiving," Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao told a news conference. "It is a decision based on humanitarian considerations only."
But a spokesman for the U.S. Pacific Fleet in Hawaii told Reuters the ships were not heading back to Hong Kong and were on course towards the Kitty Hawk's base in Japan.
"The Kitty Hawk's returning to Yokosuka," said Lieutenant Commander John Filostrat.