................
Q: Okay. Thank you. Mr. Bacon, could you comment on the purported article from the Liberation Army Daily that Mr. Gertz has published about, specifically that the Chinese, if confronted over Taiwan militarily by the United States, would target our -- take out our cities with long-range missiles, nuclear missiles?
Is there accuracy to the article -- from the Chinese in the first place? And is the Kitty Hawk going into that section?
Mr. Bacon: First of all, there is nothing in the article that suggests a change in Chinese doctrine. The Chinese have said, certainly since the days of Deng Xiaoping, that they do not have a policy of first-strike attacks; they will only strike in response to attacks. And there is nothing new in that article that changes that.
Second, the Kitty Hawk is on a standard long-scheduled predeployment or post-repair cruise. It's been under repair for the last six months. She is out testing her boilers and other things. She is southeast of Japan, not close to Taiwan. She has 10 airplanes on board, not the full carrier air wing by any stretch of the imagination. And this is a short-term, long-planned exercise that has nothing to do with the situation between China and Taiwan.
Q: Ken, did the Chinese make a threat of use of force against U.S. in this newspaper that I mentioned? Was that accurate, genuine, as far as you know?
Mr. Bacon: I said earlier there is nothing new in what they have said in that article.
................
Mr. Bacon: You're welcome.