VARIOUS: US AND CHINESE GOVERNMENTS LOCKED IN STANDOFF OVER FATE OF A U.S SPY PLANE FORCED TO LAND ON HAINAN AFTER MID-AIR COLLISION

Record ID: 1962191

  • Title: VARIOUS: US AND CHINESE GOVERNMENTS LOCKED IN STANDOFF OVER FATE OF A U.S SPY PLANE FORCED TO LAND ON HAINAN AFTER MID-AIR COLLISION
  • Date: 1st April 2001
  • Summary: UNIDENTIFIED LOCATION, CHINA (CCTV - NO ACCESS CHINA/INTERNET) MV/SV/PAN: CHINESE FIGHTER PLANE AND PILOTS/CHINESE FIGHTER PLANES TAKING OFF (3SHOTS) BEIJING, CHINA (FILE - OCTOBER 1, 2001) (CCTV - NO ACCESS CHINA/INTERNET) FILE OF CHINA FIGHTER PLANES FLYING OVER TIANANMEN SQUARE PARADE
  • Embargoed:
  • Keywords:
  • Location: BEIJING, HAINAN ISLAND AND HONG KONG, CHINA/ BANGKOK, THAILAND/ WASHINGTON DC, USA/FILE
  • City:
  • Country: Usa China Thailand
  • Topics: Conflict,International Relations,Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVABGIA0R91PFB7SI23QA48LX0AX
  • Aspect Ratio: 4:3
  • Story Text: Washington and Bejing are locked in a standoff over the fate of a U.S. spy plane with top secret electronics on board that was forced to land in China after colliding with a Chinese fighter jet.
    U.S. diplomats flew to Hainan Island to try to win the release of 24 American air crew who were aboard the plane when it was forced to make the emergency landing on Sunday.
    In Beijing, U.S. Ambassador Admiral Joseph Prueher turned up the diplomatic heat by saying the Chinese had no sound legal basis for detaining the U.S. crew.
    Joseph W. Prueher, United States Ambassador to China made his criticisms during a news conference in Beijing on Monday (April 2).
    "We have not had any contact with air crew since they landed yesterday morning. The Chinese have told us that one of their aircraft crashed and that the pilot is missing and after finding out that information, we offered our assistance with the search-and-rescue effort. But the Chinese have not taken us up on that. Under the generally accepted norms of international law, our air crew is immune PRC jurisdiction and should be permitted contact with U.S. personnel as they arrived. The PRC does not have a sound legal basis for detaining our people. Our aircraft itself also enjoys sovereign immune status. This immunity precludes foreign search, boarding or seizure or detention of the aircraft without U.S. consent. The interest in the United States is high. I've had six conversations with Sec. Powell since late yesterday afternoon and this the highest levels of our government are engaged in coordinated on this subject. The contact with the Chinese government has been modest," said Prueher, adding that this was "inexplicable and unacceptable".
    Prueher called on Beijing for talks to resolve the problem.
    "I think as we pointed out that there are procedures for solving situations like these. The sooner we can get it done, the less it bleeds over into other areas so I think the key to this is communicating with the Chinese, very few problems that I have associated without communication; they fester and get worse, so we are very eager to establish better communication and get on with the dialogue to getting access to our crew and then solving the other issues," said Prueher.
    Hong Kong Cable television station on Monday (April 2) showed pictures of the Lingshui military base on Hainan Island where the EP-3 surveillance aircraft, carrying 24 crew, made an emergency landing on Sunday.
    U.S. Naval Attach���� Bradley Kaplan and Defence Attache Neal Sealock will visit Lingshui in an attempt to gain the release of the crew.
    Journalists are not allowed to go near military airbases, but at least 2 Chinese military planes and one helicopter were filmed on the runways. There was no trace of the EP-3 aircraft.
    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-metre) wing span, is nearly 106 feet (32 metres) 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.
    An aviation expert in Hong Kong warned that, given the design and the mission of the U.S. spy plane, the incident could prove to be a major setback for US intelligence operations as the aircraft contained highly secret equipment.
    "I would say that it's a disaster if that equipment is analysed by the Chinese government. It's a really major intelligence disaster," said Jim Eckes, managing director for the Indo-Swiss Aviation.
    President George W. Bush was told of the incident shortly after it happened and the White House was "closely monitoring"
    the situation, White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said.
    The incident threatened to damage China-U.S. relations at a delicate time when U.S. President George W. Bush is weighing his strategy towards China and faces a crucial decision on whether to sell advanced weapon systems to Taiwan.
    In Bangkok, a military defence expert made a similar warning of serious repercussions if Chinese authorities decides to board the U.S. plane.
    Roger Karniol, Asia-Pacific Editor for Jane's Defence Weekly, said aerial cat-and-mouse games by air forces were routine, but that they rarely led to collisions.
    "The Chinese fighter would have been challenging the American EP-3, that means coming close to it. But it wouldn't be their intention to ram it," Karniol said.
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