China grants U.S. battle group shore rights in Hong Kong
By Chris Oliver
Last Update: 6:43 AM ET Nov 22, 2007Print Subscribe to RSS Enable Live Quotes
HONG KONG (MarketWatch) - Some of the 8,000 sailors aboard the USS Kitty Hawk carrier group will be able to enjoy shore leave in Hong Kong during the Thanksgiving holiday after Chinese officials reversed an earlier decision to turn the warships away. China's Foreign Ministry announced late Thursday it was granting permission for the ships to dock in Hong Kong for the Thanksgiving holiday on humanitarian grounds. The warships, comprising the aircraft carrier Kitty Hawk and its five support vessels, were originally scheduled to arrive in Hong Kong on Wednesday, as part of planned shore leave to coincide with the U.S. holiday. China did not provide an explanation for its earlier decision to bar the ships entry to Hong Kong, the former British territory which reverted to Chinese sovereign territory in 1997. "We have decided to allow the Kitty Hawk strike group to stay in Hong Kong during Thanksgiving, and it is a decision out of humanitarian consideration only," wire reports cited Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao as saying.
