Hundreds of family members had flown to Hong Kong to spend time with relatives from the ship for the Thanksgiving holiday.
Morrell said an explanation was "due to the families of those sailors who at great personal costs had made arrangements to visit their loved ones in Hong Kong expecting the Kitty Hawk to port there as planned."
The chief of the US Navy and the head of the US Pacific Command on Tuesday said they were especially bothered that the two minesweepers were denied a safe harbor.
"It is not, in our view, conduct that is indicative of a country who understands its obligations as a responsible nation," Admiral Tim Keating, the Pacific commander, told reporters during a video conference.
The spat occurred just weeks after a visit to China by US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates that was described by US officials as positive.
China-US relations have improved since 2001, when their militaries broke contact following a collision between a Chinese fighter jet and US spy plane. But many differences remain over issues such as China's military build-up and US weapon sales to Taiwan.
On Wednesday, the Pentagon had tried to play down speculation that China's refusal to allow the Kitty Hawk to visit Hong Kong was in retaliation for Washington's decision to sell nearly US$1 billion in Patriot 2 anti-missile upgrades to Taiwan.
Defense Department spokesman Geoff Morrell, during a regular daily briefing, was asked about the possible Taiwanese arms sales connection.
Specifically, he was asked whether the Chinese were upset that Gates had failed to give China an advanced warning of the sale when he was in Beijing
The Pentagon announced the sale on Nov. 9, just five days after Gates arrived in China for talks aimed at improving bilateral military relations.
"I'm not aware of the reason for their decision not to allow us to dock in Hong Kong," Morrell said in answer to a question about the possible link with the arms sales.
"It has not been articulated to us," Morrell said.
Since the Patriot upgrade sales had been in the works for months, Morrell added: "I don't know that there was any news to share on that count. But I don't recall that coming up at any of our meetings with the Chinese during Gates' trip."
Meanwhile, a newspaper owned by the Chinese Communist Party blamed Washington for causing the spat.
The Global Times, a tabloid published by the People's Daily, cited an unidentified People's Liberation Army senior colonel as blaming Washington's decision to sell Taiwan an anti-missile defense system.
That "obviously sent the wrong signals" to Taiwan's president, Chen Shui-bian (
"At a time when the US side is seriously harming China's interests, there is no logic under heaven by which China should then be expected to open its heart and embrace him," the paper said.
Additional reporting by Charles Snyder
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