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Politics : Right Wing Extremist Thread -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Mr. Whist who wrote (7036)	4/2/2001 9:06:30 AM
From: jlallen	Respond to of 59480

Well, if you're going to be rational about it... JLA

To: Mr. Whist who wrote (7036)	4/2/2001 9:18:08 AM
From: Magnatizer	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 59480

Still not worried about the Chinese Flap? Seems to me without a Demointheirpocket running our country they may just raise some caine in order to try and undermine our confidence in a great PROPERLY ELECTED president, George W. dailynews.yahoo.com Sunday April 1 7:46 PM ET U.S. Expects China to Return Plane, Crew By Tabassum Zakaria WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States said on Sunday it expected Beijing to return a Navy surveillance plane and its 24-member crew that made an emergency landing in China after a midair collision with a Chinese fighter aircraft. China and the United States blamed each other for the collision. China said its fighter plane crashed because the U.S. EP-3 surveillance aircraft veered and hit the Chinese plane with its nose and left wing. Rescuers were searching for the pilot of the Chinese plane, China said. The United States said Chinese fighter planes had been conducting intercepts in an unsafe manner in recent months and that this time one of them bumped into the wing of the EP-3. ``Chinese fighters intercepted the aircraft and one of them bumped into the wing of the EP-3 aircraft,'' Adm. Dennis Blair, head of the U.S. Pacific Command, said on Sunday. ``The intercepts by Chinese fighters over the past couple of months have become more aggressive to the point that we felt that they were endangering the safety of Chinese and American aircraft,'' he said at a news conference in Hawaii. ``If I had to guess right now, I would say it's an accident, it's not a normal practice to play bumper cars in the air, it's too dangerous for everybody,'' Blair said. The American surveillance plane landed safely at the Lingshui military airport on Hainan Island without any apparent injuries to the crew, U.S. officials said. U.S. officials have been in contact with Chinese officials in an attempt to have the crew and the plane, which contains classified electronic eavesdropping equipment, returned. But they had not heard from the crew since an initial contact after the plane landed, Blair said. President Bush (news - web sites) was told of the incident shortly after it happened and the White House was ``closely monitoring'' the situation, White House spokesman Ari Fleischer (news - web sites) said. The White House said it expected China to return the crew. ''That is our expectation. That is the standard practice. We would expect them to follow it,'' Fleischer said. Waiting For Cooperation The collision occurred in international airspace over the South China Sea about 70 miles (113 km) off Hainan Island, Blair said. ``We are waiting right now for the Chinese government to give us the kind of cooperation that is expected of countries in situations like this -- so that we can repair the plane, our people can return,'' Blair said. The incident came at a delicate moment for Sino-U.S. relations as the new Bush administration formulated its approach toward China and was weighing arms sales to Taiwan. The U.S. ambassador to China, Adm. Joseph Prueher, met with China's vice foreign minister on Sunday Chinese time ``in an initial meeting to resolve the situation,'' said Michelle King, a State Department spokeswoman. ``We've been in touch with the Chinese since last night and throughout the day, both in Washington and China,'' she said. The U.S. Embassy in Beijing was sending a group to see the crew on Monday local time. ``We've been assured they are safe and well,'' King said. The U.S. plane was on a ``routine surveillance mission'' when it was intercepted by two Chinese F-8 military planes, a Navy spokeswoman said. The collision at about 9:15 a.m. local time on Sunday (8:15 p.m. EST on Saturday (0115 GMT on Sunday) caused sufficient damage to the U.S. plane that it issued a ``Mayday'' distress signal and made an emergency landing, U.S. officials said. ``The last message that we had from the crew of the airplane was when they landed safely at Lingshui and the crew informed us that all 24 military personnel on board were safe and the plane had landed safely,'' Blair said. The crew of the EP-3 maritime patrol aircraft included one Air Force member, one Marine, and 22 Navy personnel. Listening The U.S. Navy (news - web sites) plane was conducting a ``routine signals security flight,'' the Navy spokeswoman said. That essentially means it was ``listening'' or collecting signals intelligence. It was attached to the VQ-1 electronic countermeasures squadron and flew out of the Kadena Air Base in Japan. The EP-3 is a four-engine propeller-driven reconnaissance aircraft that uses electronic surveillance equipment to eavesdrop on ships and land targets. It has a nearly 100-foot (30-meter) wing span, is nearly 106 feet (32 meters) long, and has 24 seats. It is capable of flying for more than 12 hours and has a more than 3,000-nautical mile range. U.S. Sen. John McCain (news - bio - voting record), a former Navy combat pilot who was shot down over Vietnam, said Chinese authorities should not enter or inspect the aircraft because of the sensitive equipment on board. ``I hope the Chinese will help us repair the airplane and get it off that island quickly,'' McCain, an Arizona Republican, told NBC's ``Meet the Press.''