6.3.2.3 paragraph 7: A pointer to an object type may be converted to a pointer to a different object type. If the resulting pointer is not correctly aligned[footnote 68]) for the referenced type, the behavior is undefined. Otherwise, when converted back again, the result shall compare equal to the original pointer. When a pointer to an object is converted to a pointer to a character type, the result points to the lowest addressed byte of the object. Successive increments of the result, up to the size of the object, yield pointers to the remaining bytes of the object.

This is a subsection of section 6.3 which describes conversions, which include both implicit and conversions from a cast operation. This language is not saying anything about bit representations or derefencing.

I happen to be wearing my undefined behavior shirt at the moment, which lends me an extra layer of authority. I'm at RustWeek in Utrecht, and it's one of my favorite shirts to wear at Rust conferences. But let's say for the sake of argument that you are right and I am indeed misunderstanding the spec. Then the logical conclusion is that it's very difficult for even experienced programmers to agree on basic interpretations of what is and what isn't UB in C.