The Navy’s Failing China Policy by Gordon G. Chang

The commander of U.S. forces in the Pacific has just completed a four-day visit of China. From the look of things, little was resolved. And that’s not entirely the fault of the increasingly assertive Chinese. Admiral Timothy Keating did not take advantage of an important opportunity to set military ties on a firmer footing.

There is a clear need to do so. After Beijing denied a long-arranged Hong Kong port call to the Kitty Hawk on the day before last Thanksgiving, the carrier and its multi-ship strike group sailed back to its homeport in Japan through the Taiwan Strait. The Chinese immediately complained, expressing “grave concern.” Keating to his credit asserted the long-held policy of the United States Navy. “We don’t need China’s permission to go through the Taiwan Straits. It’s international water,” he said last Tuesday in Beijing. “We will exercise our free right of passage whenever and wherever we choose.”

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