USS John C. Stennis ( Image credits- Flickr / United States Navy) Source- Eurasia Review Author- MINA China has denied a US request for an aircraft carrier group led by USS John C. Stennis to make a port visit to Hong Kong, the US State Department said on Friday, confirming earlier media reports. Pentagon spokesman, Commander Bill Urban, said another US warship, the USS Blue Ridge, was currently in Hong Kong on a stop-over and the US expected that to continue. Urban added that the request for a Hong Kong visit by the carrier and its strike group, which have been patrolling the South China Sea, was recently denied, despite a “long track record of successful port visits to Hong Kong.” The Chinese government, as well as the country’s embassy in Washington did not comment. The warship requested a port call permit early on Thursday. The South China Morning Post newspaper, citing the Chinese Foreign Ministry, reported that port calls by US warships and m