The White House
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“We are seeking clarification,” said White House press secretary Dana Perino.\
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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.\
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But a spokesman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry today denied the U.S. account.\
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“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.\
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“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.\
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Mrs. Perino said the White House was “surprised by that explanation.”\
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“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.”\
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— Jon Ward, White House correspondent, The Washington Times \
