WASHINGTON — The Chinese rejection of U.S. ship visits into Hong Kong is broader than initially reported, the Pentagon said yesterday, revealing that a third incident, this time involving a Pearl Harbor-based frigate, occurred last week.

According to a defense official, a request for the USS Reuben James, a Navy frigate, to make a New Year's holiday stop in Hong Kong was formally denied by the Chinese last Thursday. The denial came the same day the Chinese turned away the USS Kitty Hawk and five ships accompanying it for a Thanksgiving port call.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the denial had not been publicly announced, said the Reuben James had made the port visit request in October.

According to the official, shortly after the Kitty Hawk was turned away, the Chinese reversed their decision and said the ship could enter the harbor, but by then the ship was too far out to sea.

During that notification, the Chinese also told the Navy that the Reuben James visit was being denied. No reason was given for the refusal.

The official said the denial was both over the phone and in writing, and added that there are no other pending requests for U.S. ship visits to the Hong Kong harbor.

White House press secretary Dana Perino said, "We will be able to work it out with them."

"This incident has not prevented us from being able to work with the Chinese. We are two very large countries, very powerful countries," she said. "This relationship is growing and maturing, and this is something that two nations should be able to work through, and I don't think escalating it every day is necessary."

The Reuben James will still go to the region, calling at a different port, an official said. He didn't name the port. The Chinese Embassy in Washington didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

Until now, the Navy has considered Hong Kong one of the sailors' favorite ports of call, with about 50 ship visits per year.

In addition to the Kitty Hawk and the Reuben James, the Chinese also refused to let two Navy minesweepers enter Hong Kong harbor to escape an approaching storm and receive fuel — an incident Navy officials said it found far more disturbing since it violates an international rule of the sea to provide safe harbor for vessels in trouble.

The minesweepers, the Patriot and the Guardian, were instead refueled at sea and returned safely to their home port in Japan.

Before the latest three incidents, the most recent port visit denial came in 2004.

The Navy on average has conducted about 50 port calls a year at Hong Kong since 1997, when it reverted to Chinese control.

The Reuben James carries the name of an earlier vessel that was sunk in October 1941 by a German submarine while doing convoy duty in the North Atlantic.

The ship became famous when folksinger Woody Guthrie wrote a song about the sinking.

The current Reuben James made an appearance in the movie "The Hunt for Red October," according to its Web site.

China has hinted that Congress' honoring of the Dalai Lama and U.S. arms sales to Taiwan triggered the problems, which have cast a new shadow over military relations between the two countries.

The Pentagon summoned a Chinese military attache to protest the decision, which the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Adm. Mike Mullen, called "perplexing." President Bush raised the issue with Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi during their talks on North Korea, Iran and other issues.

Bloomberg News Service contributed to this report.