Port call suggests US-China tensions easing

FIVE American warships docked for a port call in Hong Kong yesterday in a sign tensions between China and the United States are easing after flare-ups over the Dalai Lama and an arms sale to Taiwan.

Carrying about 5,000 sailors, the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz and four other ships arrived for a four-day rest stop after spending five months in the North Arabian Sea as a base for air combat missions in Afghanistan.

Political analysts see Beijing's approval of the port call as an indication that the Chinese government doesn't want to let Sino-US relations deteriorate further, hampering co-operation on the global economy and other issues.

China blocked a long-scheduled port call by the USS Kitty Hawk in November 2007 at the last minute. Some analysts viewed this as retaliation after the US Congress awarded its highest civilian honour to the Dalai Lama.

The Tibetan Buddhist leader – whom Beijing views as a separatist – is also at the centre of recent Sino-US tensions. The Dalai Lama is scheduled to meet US president Barack Obama today in a meeting condemned by the Chinese.

That meeting – along with trade disputes, alleged Chinese cyber-spying, and the announcement of the $6.4 billion (4.07bn) arms sale to Taiwan, the self-ruled island China claims as its territory – have made for rough relations.

However, despite a threat to suspend military-to-military exchanges after the Taiwan arms sale and another threat to retaliate against US companies involved in that same sale, Beijing has taken no action.