Adm. Jonathan Greenert, chief of naval operations, said he might be persuaded to give his Chinese counterpart a tour of a U.S. aircraft carrier docked in Japan, despite critics who worry such action could open the doors to espionage.
Adm. Greenert said his counterpart in China first suggested the tour — that the United States could board the Liaoning carrier in exchange for Chinese boarding the USS George Washington.
And he replied, The Wall Street Journal first reported: “I’m receptive to that idea.”
But to some, that’s a bad idea.
“In theory, [China] could see some of the ship’s technology,” said Nan Li, an associate professor in the U.S. Naval War College’s China Maritime Studien Institute, Fox News reported. “We would be able to see how far behind their ship is compared to ours, and can demonstrate to them how powerful their ship is, and maybe they would respect it.”
Yet U.S. law bans any type of cooperation with the Chinese that could bring about a compromise in America’s military and intelligence, The Wall Street Journal said. And as Mr. Li pointed out, Chinese naval officers recently sent an uninvited spy ship to drills that were being conducted by the United State aboard the USS Ronald Reagan.
“It’s a contradiction,” he said, Fox News reported. “China shows it wants to cooperate, but by sending that spy ship, it shows hostility.”
• Cheryl K. Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com.
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