这应该是很权威的，美国海军将领的说法：

Yet, although the U.S. dispatched two aircraft-carrier battle groups
to the West Pacific during that crisis, it only stationed one carrier
near Taiwan waters to avoid "antagonizing" China, the former
commander of U.S. Pacific forces has told sources privately.

美军从来没打算进台湾海峡，甚至没太靠近台湾：

In fact, neither warship sailed “down the middle” of the strait or
even near its ends. But more than that, the two carriers never converged
on the island republic to protect it, sources familiar with the
operation say.

美国官方其实并不强硬：

Adm. Joseph W. Prueher, commander-in-chief of the U.S. Pacific
Command at the time, remarked to defense experts gathered in a
closed-door meeting in 1997, that the administration wanted to throttle
back the operation as a signal to Beijing that Washington was trying not
to appear too confrontational.

尼米兹根本没有开赴台海：

There’s no evidence, at least not from public briefings and records,
that the USS Nimitz carrier ever sailed on to Taiwan during China’s
exercises, which lasted until March 25. And the Pentagon is no help. It
won’t release data from ship logs for a definitive answer.

实施上，从来没有两艘航母的事

"Fact is, there weren’t two (carriers) simultaneously on station,"
said one source who heard it from Prueher in a meeting. Prueher was
still in command at the time.

中方完全清楚，是怎么回事：

http://www.wnd.com/2000/03/7223/