China denies request for Hong Kong port call by US warship

HONG KONG: China has rejected a request for an American warship to make a port call in Hong Kong, the US consulate in Hong Kong, as tensions between the two countries flared on the military as well as economic fronts over strict military sanctions imposed by Washington.

It isn't the first time Beijing has canceled a visit by a US warship in protest. Most recently, China denied the aircraft carrier USS John C. Stennis access to Hong Kong in 2016 after the ship hosted then US Secretary of Defense Ash Carter on a visit to the South China Sea.

The cancellation of a planned visit by the Wasp, an amphibious assault ship carrying a contingent of Marines, followed China’s decision to recall a senior admiral who was in the United States for a naval conference this week.

Both actions were prompted by a Trump administration decision to impose sanctions on a Chinese state military company linked to the People’s Liberation Army for buying weapons from Russia. Although the economic impact of the American action on the Chinese remains unclear, the vehemence of Beijing’s response suggested that the move stung.

The move is likely to worsen already poor relations between Washington and Beijing, which have steadily deteriorated in the past week following new US sanctions on the Chinese military over their purchases of Russian weaponry.