Admiral says sub risked a shootout

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The Navy's top commander in the Pacific said yesterday that a Chinese submarine risked setting off a military confrontation by closely shadowing a U.S. aircraft carrier sailing near Japan.

"It illustrates the primary reason why we are trying to push to have better military-to-military relationships" with China, said Adm. William J. Fallon, in his first public comments on the U.S.-China naval encounter disclosed Monday by The Washington Times.

China's government, meanwhile, said it was unaware of the incident.

"I have not heard of such a report," Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said, when asked about The Times report. China's defense policy is "based on self-defense," she said.

A Song-class Chinese submarine equipped with wake-homing torpedos and anti-ship cruise missiles surfaced within five miles of the USS Kitty Hawk in waters near Okinawa on Oct. 26 in what U.S. defense officials said was a provocative act.

Defense officials believe the Chinese submarine was practicing for tracking and targeting carriers.

Pentagon officials said the matter likely will be raised during defense-policy coordination talks with Chinese military officials set to begin Dec. 7 in Washington.

"Maritime safety is on the agenda," a spokesman said.

A Pentagon spokesman said yesterday he was not aware than any protest had been lodged with the Chinese over the incident in the East China Sea near Okinawa.

According to the officials, China has refused since 1998 to agree to notify the Pentagon about its naval movements, something U.S. officials say could help avoid incidents at sea, such as the submarine encounter, that might trigger a conflict.