WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 26th September, 2018) The Chinese government has refused to grant permission for the US Navy amphibious assault ship Wasp to visit Hong Kong in October, US military officials were cited as saying in media reports on Monday.
China's decision will affect hundreds of service members serving on board the Wasp, whose home port is in Sasebo, Japan and has been at sea since August
The move is not unprecedented. In April 2016, during a period of tension over the legal status of territories in the South China Sea, China rejected a request for the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier John C. Stennis to visit Hong Kong.
The Wasp and its expeditionary strike group are currently operating in the East China Sea. Earlier in September, the Wasp provided disaster relief after Typhoon Mangkhut to the US dependency of Guam and the northern Mariana Islands, the report said.
In addition, China has recalled Vice Admiral Shen Jinlong to Beijing and will not carry out a previously planned visit with US Chief of Naval Operations Admiral John Richardson, the report said.
The Trump administration last week imposed sanctions on a Chinese military agency for buying Russian SU-35 combat aircraft and S-400 surface-to-air missile systems, moves that Beijing protested.
