"So we are asking for a clarification on that matter," she said.
The State Department had nothing to add to Perino's comments, saying that the White House was in charge of the matter.
Asked how the White House would say one thing and the Chinese Foreign Ministry something else, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said: "I would assume that the White House said that [it was a misunderstanding] because that's what they heard, and if there's any reports to the contrary coming out of the Chinese Foreign Ministry, that they're seeking clarification about those subsequent comments that have come out of the Foreign Ministry. And I know that the White House is handling that."
Chinese officials were said to have made inconsistent statements over whether the Kitty Hawk snub was related to the Pentagon's recent announcement of plans to sell nearly US$1 billion in advanced ground support equipment for Taiwan's Patriot II anti-missile batteries and Bush's unprecedented appearance next to the Dalai Lama during a congressional award ceremony for the Tibetan spiritual leader.
Liu was reported to have linked the Kitty Hawk incident to both Taiwan and Tibet, while other reports stressed one or the other as the main offender.
Perino downplayed any damage to US-China relations that the Kitty Hawk incident may have caused.
"I think the president believes we have good relations with China, we work cooperatively with China on so many different issues," Perino said. "This is one small incident. And in the big picture, in the big scheme of things, we have very good relations," she said.
"So we've asked for the clarification and I think that we'll get it, and then we'll be able to move beyond this," Perino said.
Additional reporting by CNA
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