British Warships in Shanghai May Portend U.S. Visits

SHANGHAI — Thousands of Chinese lined Shanghai’s waterfront Friday as two British warships began a five-day port call that could pave the way for a similar visit by U.S. Navy vessels.

The destroyer Manchester and frigate Amazon tied up at Shanghai’s Yangtze River pier early Friday afternoon as a 40-piece Chinese military band played the Royal Navy anthem and other martial tunes.

Several thousand Chinese civilians lined Shanghai’s historic riverside area to watch the foreign warships steam into port, while nearby merchant vessels sounded their horns in welcome.

A heavy rain began falling just as the two ships, which together carry 500 officers and crew, were secured at the pier.

May Clear Way for U.S.

Western diplomats said the port call, the first by British warships since 1980, could help end a deadlock between China and the United States that has blocked a similar visit by American vessels originally planned for the spring of 1985.

Last year’s unprecedented U.S. port call by three Navy destroyers was “suspended” after Communist Party chief Hu Yaobang said the vessels would not carry nuclear arms. Hu’s statement appeared to indicate that Washington had assured Peking the vessels would not carry nuclear weapons only months after it had refused to give similar assurances to New Zealand.

American officials immediately denied Hu’s comments and reiterated the U.S. policy of neither confirming nor denying the presence of nuclear arms aboard ships.

As a result of Hu’s statement, the two sides failed to agree on the terms of what would have been the first U.S. port call to China since the 1949 Communist takeover.

U.S. officials have indicated talks on the port call are continuing, but no date has been mentioned.

Identical Policy

Since Britain has an identical policy of neither confirming nor denying the presence of nuclear weapons aboard its ships, its agreement with Peking could help remove the main obstacle to the U.S. port call, diplomats said.

“The negotiations are still open for a U.S. visit and a successful British visit could pave the way for a U.S. visit at a later date,” a Western diplomat said.

While British diplomats have refused to divulge details of their understanding with China, both sides appear to have skirted the nuclear issue simply by refusing to discuss it directly.

But both sides have stated their policies in public, with Peking saying “it is China’s position not to allow foreign military vessels with nuclear weapons to visit China,” and British officials making it clear that London is “fully aware” of the Chinese stand.