(Xinhua)
Updated: 2007-12-04 21:02

A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman said Tuesday that China had expressed grave concerns to the United States over USS Kitty Hawk passing the Taiwan Strait.

"We were informed by the US side it was caused by the stormy weather that the fleet passed through the Taiwan Strait on its way back to its military base in Japan," Qin told reporters at a routine press conference.

Qin said the Chinese side had expressed grave concerns over the passage, and requested the US side to act with discretion in the highly sensitive area.

Qin reiterated that there was no misunderstanding between China and the United States over the Kitty Hawk incident.

The US aircraft carrier Kitty Hawk had planned to arrive in Hong Kong on November 21 to give its crew four days shore leave for Thanksgiving.

China refused before changing its mind "out of humanitarian considerations." But the US fleet declined the offer and headed for its base in Japan.

The USS Kitty Hawk carrier, which was commissioned in 1961, is nearing the end of its service life and will return to the United States in 2008 to be decommissioned. It is the Navy's oldest ship in active service and the only US aircraft carrier permanently deployed abroad.