The USS Curtis Wilbur, an Arleigh Burke class Aegis guided missile destroyer will spend several days at Qingdao, a key port of China's North Fleet, officials said.

"This is an opportunity for the US personnel to meet their counterparts in the People's Liberation Army navy," US navy officials said.

"The port call will provide the crew of more than 300 sailors aboard USS Curtis Wilbur a chance for sightseeing and cultural exchanges."

The USS Curtis Wilbur is deployed to the Western Pacific and operates out of Yokosuka, Japan.

It is part of the Kitty Hawk aircraft carrier group.

The destroyer is equipped with the Aegis Combat System which integrates the ship's sensors and weapons systems to engage anti-ship missile threats.

Taiwan's navy has been seeking to buy Aegis destroyers from the United States in an effort to counter the mainland's growing deployment of ballistic missiles along its southeastern coast.

China views Taiwan as a renegade province to be reunified by force if necessary, while the US has committed to defend the island territory.

Early in his first term, US President George W. Bush turned down a request from Taiwan to buy Aegis-equipped destroyers, but talks have reportedly resumed as over 800 Chinese ballistic missiles are expected to be facing the island by 2006.

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