The White House
\
“We are seeking clarification,” said White House press secretary Dana Perino.\
SEE RELATED:
\
Mrs. Perino Wednesday said that Mr. Yang told President Bush, during an Oval Office meeting, that a misunderstanding was to blame for the U.S.S. Kitty Hawk’s inability to enter port.\
\
But a spokesman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry today denied the U.S. account.\
\
“Reports that Foreign Minister Yang said in the United States that it was a misunderstanding do not accord with the facts,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao, Reuters reported.\
\
“China approved the visit of the Kitty Hawk group to Hong Kong based on humanitarian reasons. The decision made by the U.S. later was up to them,” Mr. Liu said.\
\
Mrs. Perino said the White House was “surprised by that explanation.”\
\
“That was not what the president heard from the foreign minister yesterday,” she said. “The president was told there was a miscommunication which could lead to a misunderstanding.”\
\
— Jon Ward, White House correspondent, The Washington Times \