However, a US military official in the naval command in Hawaii doubted that the Kitty Hawk's mission involved Taiwan. The warship was scheduled to leave its home port in the middle of last month, but it was held up with a steam leak that had to be fixed, he said. That means, he contended, that the trip was not meant to coincide with Taiwan's election.
In addition, he noted, Beijing approved the visit.
"I just can't imagine" that China would approve a visit that had something to do with Taiwan's election, he said.
Besides, such an election monitoring role would be seen as "escalatory" and the US would not take a step to escalate tensions in the region at this time, he said.
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