Breaking news about 25 minutes ago...China Leader Reiterates Call for U.S. Apology in Plane Incident.
Apr 5, 2001 - 09:49 PM
China Leader Reiterates Call for U.S. Apology in Plane Incident.
ap.tbo.com
By Kevin Gray
Associated Press Writer
SANTIAGO, Chile (AP) - Chinese President Jiang Zemin on Thursday again called for the United States to apologize for a collision between a U.S. surveillance plane and a Chinese fighter.
"I have visited many countries and I see that when people have an accident, the two groups involved, the two parts always say excuse me," Jiang said after arriving in Santiago, Chile, the first stop of a 12-day Latin American tour.
The United States has declined to apologize for the mishap, but on Thursday President Bush expressed "regret" - qualified language that has been used by other American officials.
China said Thursday it will hold the crew of the plane for questioning and insisted on a "cooperative attitude" from Washington before they are allowed to meet again with American diplomats.
Jiang also said both sides should try to seek a resolution.
"I want to say with emphasis that the leaders of China and the United States must manage this issue to the maximum interests" of their relations, he said.
He said Chinese officials were exasperated by continued U.S. surveillance flights.
"American planes come to the edge of our country and they don't say excuse me. This sort of conduct is not acceptable in any country," he said.
He said the airplane's 24-member crew was "healthy," and expressed regret about the missing Chinese flyer involved in the crash.
"During my flight to Chile, I was thinking about our pilot, and we don't where he is, and our plane is at the bottom of the ocean," said Jiang, whose comments were translated into Spanish by Jiang's interpreter.
China's has given no sign that the 24 American men and women would be released soon, despite warnings from Bush that China risks undermining relations by continuing to hold them.
China says the U.S. crew violated international law and that an investigation into the crash was still going on.
Though it has repeatedly demanded an apology and pressed the United States to take blame, China welcomed the latest U.S. statements on the issue.
"The regret expressed by the U.S. side is a step in the right direction to solving this question," said Foreign Ministry spokesman Sun Yuxi earlier Thursday, responding to Secretary of State Colin Powell's first public expression of regret a day earlier.
"As for the next step in handling this issue, the key is for the U.S. side to adopt a cooperative attitude, admit its mistakes and make a formal apology," Sun said.
China insists that the U.S. Navy EP-3E surveillance plane caused the collision, about 60 miles south of Hainan.
China and the United States agree that the EP-3E was flying in international airspace when it collided with one of two Chinese F-8 fighters sent to track it. Such U.S. flights are meant to gather information on China's military by recording radio, radar and other signals.
Later, Zhu Banghao, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman traveling with Jiang, stressed that China doesn't want the incident to harm relations.
"We don't want the United States to become our enemy and China does not constitute an enemy for the United States," he said.
Jiang made his comments after signing cultural and agricultural accords with Chilean President Ricardo Lagos at Chile's government house, La Moneda. He also signed an agreement on cooperation in earthquake research.
AP-ES-04-05-01 2148EDT
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