Ministry doubts politics behind naval exchange

The Ministry of National Defense confirmed yesterday that a US aircraft carrier and an amphibious command ship will visit Chinese ports in the next two weeks, but denied the stops have political implications.

"The LCC-19 amphibious command ship Blue Ridge will visit Shanghai on Feb. 24. The CV-63 aircraft carrier Kitty Hawk will make a call at Hong Kong in early March," ministry spokesman Major-General Huang Suei-sheng (黃穗生) said yesterday.

"The port visits should be part of routine military exchanges between China and the US," Huang said.

Although the ministry treats the port visits as routine military exchanges, some analysts disagreed.

Andrew Yang (楊念祖), secretary-general of the Chinese Council for Advanced Policy Studies, said the port calls might be routine but that they represent a heightening of military ties between China and the US.

"Military exchanges between China and the US have been quite frequent recently," Yang said. "Some of the top defense leaders of the US have visited China in recent months. All these events indicate that military ties between the two countries are improving."

Despite the development, Yang said he did not think Taiwan's interests would be sacrificed as a result.

"The US' policy is to maintain the balance of power in the Taiwan Strait. It will not favor one side at the expense of another," Yang said.

"In recent years, the US military has upgraded military exchanges with Taiwan by doing such things as sending officials to participate in the annual Hankuang-series joint operations exercises," he said.

Erich Shih (施孝瑋), a senior editor with Defence International magazine, agreed with the ministry that the port visits are routine but he did not rule out the possibility that there are political implications.

"The port visits look like a friendly gesture. But they contain at the same time an implicit warning to China that no military action should be ventured in the lead-up to Taiwan's March 20 presidential elections," Shih said.

"Both the Kitty Hawk and Blue Ridge have visited China before. Especially the Kitty Hawk. It has visited Hong Kong several times over the past few years," he said.

"Hong Kong is a regular stop for the aircraft carrier on its way to Southeast Asia every year during this season," he said.

"It is the same with the Blue Ridge. The amphibious command ship has visited China once before," he said.

In late February 2000, one month before Taiwan's presidential election, the Kitty Hawk left its home port in Japan for the Taiwan Strait amid political tension across the Strait.