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Chinese submarine 'no threat'
17/11/2006 16:06 - (SA)
Beijing - An incident where a Chinese submarine surfaced close to a United States (US) carrier group was not threatening, but highlighted the need for more communication and transparency between the two militaries, said a top US naval commander on Friday.
China has denied a report by The Washington Times that the submarine had followed a US carrier group in the Pacific Ocean and surfaced within close firing range.
Admiral Gary Roughead, commander of the US Pacific Fleet, confirmed in an interview that the incident took place. But, he said, the Chinese submarine "was operating in a manner that did not hazard any vessel or cause any problems for any vessel".
'Communication important'
"I do believe ... that the openness and transparency and the ability to communicate when our forces are operating in proximity with one another is very important," said Roughead, who was visiting China to co-ordinate a November 19 joint search-and-rescue exercise aimed at strengthening ties between the two navies.
"That's why we are doing this series of exercises," he said.
The Times report said the Chinese submarine "stalked" the Kitty Hawk and surfaced within eight kilometres of the carrier group, which had been operating near the southern Japanese island of Okinawa at the time of the incident.
Admiral William Fallon, the commander of US Pacific Command, said this week that the carrier group was not engaged in anti-submarine exercises.
Relations improving
But if it had, "and if this Chinese sub came in the middle of this, then it could have escalated into something that could have been very unforeseen", said Fallon, who was in Kuala Lumpur for a 23-nation chief of defence forces meeting.
Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Jiang Yu said on Thursday that the Times report was "not in line with fact", but did not give any details.
Visits between the Chinese and American militaries dropped off after the collision of a US spy plane and a Chinese fighter jet off China's coast in 2001.
Relations have been improving recently as US leaders cautiously seek to increase exchanges and better understand China's rapidly modernising military.
- AP
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