Skip to main content /US
CNN.com /US
CNN TV
SERVICES
CNN TV
EDITIONS

Upcoming talks could ease friction over spy flights

graphic

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The crew of a U.S. Navy spy plane will be coming home, but China's objections to U.S. electronic surveillance flights off its coast are yet to be resolved.

China had demanded an American apology for the April 1 collision between a U.S. reconnaissance plane and a Chinese fighter shadowing it over the South China Sea. It also demanded an end to routine reconnaissance flights off its shores.

A U.S. statement says Washington is "very sorry" for the loss of the Chinese fighter pilot but does not accept blame for the collision or make any commitment to restrict the surveillance flights. The issue is one expected to be addressed at a U.S.-Chinese meeting set for April 18.

 TRANSCRIPT
  • Text of U.S. letter expressing 'sincere regret'
  • Text of Bush's remarks
  •  
     What's next?
    FOR U.S.-CHINA TALKS:

    • U.S. and Chinese officials meet April 18 to discuss the collision, the return of the U.S. aircraft and Chinese concerns about U.S. surveillance flights.

    FOR THE CREW:

    • Upon release, a chartered jet will take them to the U.S. territory of Guam.

    • On Guam, they will transfer to a U.S. military plane to fly to Hawaii.

    • In Hawaii, military officials will question them about their time in Chinese custody. Debriefing could last two to three days.

    • After debriefing, they will return to their home bases in the U.S.

    ALSO
     

    "We need to have this surveillance, and if there's a way we can do it differently in ways that are less offensive to some people, that might be a matter worth discussing," U.S. Rep. Porter Goss, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, told CNN on Wednesday.

    Goss, R-Florida, said everything the EP-3 crew was doing was legal and routine, but China has tried to protect its secrets from other countries' reconnaissance missions.

    "There has been a friction, and it's built up and there has been an accident," he said. "As a result, I think we'll have a good bilateral discussion, and I think we'll find a way to go about doing our national security business while accommodating their sensitivities -- the legitimate sensitivities they may have."

    Added Florida Sen. Bob Graham, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee: "We have no intention to let this incident preclude us from continuing those flights."

    The Chinese will continue to hold the aircraft until a further agreement can be reached, but China has agreed to return the plane, Graham said.

    Military officials plan to question the returning crew in Hawaii on their way back to their squadron's home base at Whidbey Island Naval Air Station, near Seattle, Washington. That debriefing could last as long as three days.

    "I'm sure there will be a review by the Navy of the conduct of these flights and whether any adjustments need to be made," former National Security Adviser Samuel Berger said. "But I don't believe that they will be suspended."

    One Pentagon official told CNN that the crippled aircraft could be sent home on a barge; repaired on China's Hainan Island and flown out; or carried out on a cargo plane after its wings are removed. The Pentagon said last week that China had been taking equipment off the grounded plane, but the crew managed to destroy much of its gear and data before landing on Hainan.

    Goss said China may have picked up some secrets from its inspection of the aircraft but expected any loss of sensitive data to be small.

    "Certainly the Chinese will have picked up whatever they can, circumstantially, from this opportunity, as they view it," he said. "Do I think this has crippled our capability? Not in any way at all ... Have we lost something? Yeah, I think there's probably some damage there."

    CNN Correspondents Patty Davis, David Ensor and Kate Snow contributed to this report.



    RELATED STORIES:
    U.S. says China must move to break spy plane impasse
    April 10, 2001
    Chinese envoy urges Congress not to block Olympic bid
    April 10, 2001
    Standoff a study of semantics
    April 10, 2001
    China may be stripping plane
    April 10, 2001
    Chinese pilot's wife sends Bush emotional letter
    April 6, 2001

    RELATED SITES:
    The Pentagon
    U.S. Senate Committee on Intelligence

    Note: Pages will open in a new browser window
    External sites are not endorsed by CNN Interactive.


     Search   


    Back to the top