Republican US presidential hopeful Ted Cruz on Friday suggested in a Tweet that the US carrier strike group led by the USS John C. Stennis, denied by China to visit to Hong Kong, should come to Taiwan instead.
“US carrier denied port visit in Hong Kong. Proof that PRC [People’s Republic of China] isnt US partner. We should send carrier to Taiwan instead,” Cruz said in the Tweet.
Among the responses to Cruz’s tweet was one saying: “I agree! Why are we sending our warship to China when our friends in Taiwan are right there?”
“Taipei and her people are as good a friends as the USA has in the region. To bad we don’t act like it,” another netizen said.
“Last I checked, Taiwan is controlled by China,” said one netizen, whose post was rebutted by another, saying: “It’s not.. Check again....”
US Department of Defense spokesman Commander Bill Urban said the US warship the USS Blue Ridge is currently in Hong Kong on a port visit and the US expects that to continue.
Urban said a request for the Hong Kong visit by the carrier and its accompanying vessels, which have been patrolling the South China Sea, was recently denied, despite a “long track record of successful port visits to Hong Kong.”
A US Navy official, who did not want to be identified, said the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs commissioner in Hong Kong conveyed Beijing’s denial of visit, saying it was “not convenient” at this time.
The ministry yesterday did not directly provide a reason for the denial.
“On the visits of US military ships and aircraft to Hong Kong, China has always approved them on a case-by-case basis in accordance with the principle of sovereignty and the specific situation,” it said, without elaborating.
The nuclear-powered Stennis has been conducting patrols in the South China Sea, where Taiwan, the Philippines, Vietnam, Brunei, Malaysia and China have competing claims to some or all parts and where Beijing has sparked US and regional concerns by building artificial islands to bolster its claims.
US Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter visited the Stennis while it transited the South China Sea on April 15 to underscore US concerns about the need to maintain freedom of navigation in the face of Chinese moves.
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