WASHINGTON, Nov. 29 (Xinhua) -- The United States and China have very good relations and could move beyond their dispute over aircraft carrier USS Kitty Hawk's recent aborted attempt to have a stop in Hong Kong, White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said on Thursday.

    "I think the president believes we have good relations with China. We work cooperatively with China on so many different issues. This is one small incident. And in the big picture, in the big scheme of things, we have very good relations," Perino said at a White House news briefing.

    "We have been in communication with the Chinese. We are asking them to clarify the reasons that the Kitty Hawk was turned back," she said. "I think we will get it (clarification), and then we'll be able to move beyond this," she added.

    U.S. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack also suggested on Thursday that the incident would not spill into other areas of the U.S.-China relations.

    "The U.S.-China relationship is a broad, mature, deep relationship that is constantly evolving, changing, and in some ways getting better and in some areas we have differences," McCormack said, responding to a question at a news briefing in the State Department.

    "But it is fundamentally a relationship between two important world powers," he said. "So where we have bumps in the road, we work through them. We deal with each other in a straightforward manner."

    Addressing a routine news briefing in Beijing on Thursday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao said the Sino-U.S. relations were disturbed and impaired by the erroneous actions taken by the United States recently despite the general smooth development of bilateral relationship.

    The spokesman listed examples such as the meeting between U.S. leader and the Dalai Lama, and his award of the U.S. Congressional Gold Medal. Liu also expressed China's great concern over U.S. arms sales to Taiwan.

    On the Kitty Hawk incident, Liu denied reports that the aircraft carrier was prevented from docking in Hong Kong, a special administrative region of China, due to a misunderstanding.

    "We have taken note of the reports. I want to clarify that all the reports are not true," he said.

    Regarding the so-called protest from the United States, Liu said, China didn't receive any protests from the U.S. side, adding that "there should not be such protests."

    Liu said China handles the visit of U.S. military vessels and airplanes to Hong Kong in line with the principles of sovereignty and the specific situation on a case-by-case basis.

    As for the case of Kitty Hawk, China followed the same principles, Liu added.

    The USS Kitty Hawk was due to arrive in Hong Kong on Nov. 21 to give its crew four days leave to spend Thanksgiving with their families.

    China refused the ship access before changing its mind and allowing it to dock "out of humanitarian considerations."

    However, the United States said it was too late and the ship carried on to Japan.