Taiwan is the main cause behind Beijing's refusal to let another US Navy ship make a port call in Hong Kong, a source close to the situation has said.
The Pentagon on Friday revealed that a request by the frigate Reuben James to make a New Year's holiday stop in Hong Kong was denied by Beijing last week.
It was the third time in recent days that Beijing had turned away a US Navy ship from Hong Kong.
'It planned to go through the Taiwan Strait on its way to Hong Kong. Beijing wouldn't allow such a sensitive move during the period leading up to next year's Taiwan election,' said the source, who works for the national security agency in southeast Fujian - the military frontier province closest to Taiwan.
The denial of visiting rights for the US frigate was contained in the same notification that Beijing delivered on November 22, in which it reversed a previous decision and gave permission for the aircraft carrier Kitty Hawk to dock in Hong Kong over the Thanksgiving holiday, a US defence official said. No reasons were given for this latest rejection, he said.
The Kitty Hawk did not dock in Hong Kong, leaving many of the crew's relatives and friends high and dry in the city where they had travelled to meet the ship.
The Foreign Ministry yesterday said it had no further information on the Reuben James and reiterated Beijing's policy on US warship port-call requests, namely consideration of sovereignty and 'circumstances in each individual case'.
