The ripples from the war in Kosovo have reached Hong Kong. Yesterday the Chinese government announced it was barring US warships from making courtesy calls to the former British colony, apparently because of NATO's bombing of the Chinese embassy in Belgrade.
"Under the current situation, it is normal for the central government not to agree to visits by US warships," China's Foreign Ministry office in Hong Kong said in a statement.
Since Hong Kong reverted to China in July 1997, US and other Western warships have continued to make courtesy port visits. Some 70 American destroyers and frigates visited Hong Kong last year, injecting $50 million (about £35 million) into the economy, according to a spokeswoman for the US consulate in Hong Kong.
The loss will be felt by waterfront bars, restaurants, shops and tattoo parlours. Five visits scheduled for the next six weeks have been cancelled following the Chinese government's ban.
Under the one-country-two-systems agreement under which Hong Kong enjoys considerable autonomy, Beijing retains control over matters affecting defence and foreign policy.
The ban on visiting warships illustrates Hong Kong's vulnerability to the hardening of Beijing's foreign policy towards the US following the embassy bombing.
A spokeswoman for the US consulate in Hong Kong confirmed the decision. "The Chinese have denied all pending US port visits to Hong Kong," she said.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry told the consulate that "the presence of US warships in Hong Kong waters will not be acceptable in the current situation."
She added: "We regret these mutually beneficial port calls, which bring economic benefits to Hong Kong as well as shore leave benefits to US Navy personnel, are unable to take place at this time."
The cancellation of the visits follows a decision by Beijing to halt military exchanges and a human rights dialogue between China and the United States in retaliation for the NATO bombing of the Chinese embassy in Belgrade on May 7th. Three Chinese journalists were killed in the NATO strike and the embassy building destroyed.
In Beijing, China's official Communist Party newspaper urged people to rally behind the party in times of crisis, calling socialism "the nation's strongest ideological weapon".
In an editorial it said the party had taken the "resolute, correct and proper" response to the bombing of the embassy. "Adherence to the basic line of the Communist Party of China is the fundamental guarantee for the Chinese people to overcome all difficulties on their way forward," the newspaper said, adding that the attack was carried out "in an attempt in every way to change our political line and to disrupt and sabotage our cause in a bid to contain our development."
The United States expressed regret at the Chinese ban yesterday. Mr Robert Laing, a spokesman for the US consulate-general in Hong Kong, called the move regrettable. "These port calls are mutually beneficial. They bring economic benefits."