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China poised to declare missing pilot dead
BEIJING, China -- China appears ready to announce that pilot Wang Wei, missing in the South China Sea since his jet fighter collided with a U.S. Navy spy plane 11 days ago, has died. State-run media reports indicated Wednesday that China's hopes of finding Wang alive were diminishing. The reports came as U.S. military officials said new evidence suggested the missing pilot was probably to blame for the collision that has led to a diplomatic standoff between the two nations.
The Pentagon is still withholding public comment on exactly what happened when the Navy EP-3E collided with a Chinese F-8 fighter jet, but Pentagon sources say new details support the U.S. suggestion that the Chinese pilot was at fault. Pentagon sources say the accident happened after two close passes by the Chinese jets, in which they came within 3-to-5 feet of the much slower and larger, propeller-powered EP-3E plane. Then on the third pass, sources say, Wang's jet approached the U.S. plane from a 45-degree angle, cut it too close and was hit by the EP-3Es number one engine on the left wing, sending the U.S. plane into an 8,000 foot dive before its pilot could regain control. Wang's fighter crashed into the sea, but Chinese authorities said Wang's parachute opened after he ejected from the jet. Last Thursday, the surviving Chinese pilot, Zhao Yu told a Chinese state TV interviewer that the accident was "directly caused by the collision of the U.S. plane veering at a wide angle toward our plane, making it impossible for our plane to avoid it." He said the U.S. plane "severely violated flying rules." Conversations with crewThe Pentagon account comes from brief conversations with the detained U.S. aircrew, along with other intelligence sources. After 11 days at sea, the odds of finding Wang alive are extremely low. State-owned media on Wednesday reported China's Navy Vice-commissar Hu Yanlin as saying that while a massive search for Wang continues, "his chances of being alive are diminishing". The comment seemed to be preparing the nation for an announcement that Wang had died. "We cannot avoid facing unfortunate facts that we do not want to see," the Xinhua Daily Telegraph quoted Hu as telling Ruan Guoqin, the missing pilot's wife. After Wang's F-8 fighter plunged into the South China Sea on April 1 the U.S. spy plane made an emergency landing at a Chinese air base on China's southern island of Hainan. Its 24 crew have been in detention since then. "If Comrade Wang Wei has died, he heroically gave his life protecting the motherland and is (the) pride of the navy. The Communist Party, motherland and people will not forget him," Hu told Ruan at her bedside in a Beijing hospital Tuesday. The Bush administration said Tuesday that talks with the Chinese have gone as far as they can, and China must move to end the standoff over a grounded U.S. spy plane. In comments the same afternoon, President Bush indicated no immediate end to the dispute was in sight. Diplomats in Beijing said the shift from highlighting massive search and rescue efforts to preparing for the pilot's death could mark the beginning of the end of the standoff. China has made the missing pilot Wang and his presumed widow Ruan the emotive centerpiece of a vehement campaign to extract an American apology for the April 1 collision between the U.S. EP-3E surveillance aircraft and Wang's F-8 jet. Crew release 'unlikely'The diplomats said it was unlikely China could release the 24 American spy plane crew members until Wang was found or officially declared lost. Xinhua news agency quoted Ruan, who went into hospital shortly after the collision, as saying she would stand up to whatever was coming and would "never give up her request for an apology." There has been no official word on why she was in hospital. Foreign Ministry spokesman Sun Yuxi repeated on Tuesday China's demand for an apology and its official account that the U.S. plane veered suddenly into the Chinese fighter, then entered Chinese airspace and landed on Hainan without authorization. "We maintain the incident was purely caused by the U.S. side because of its erroneous acts," he said. "The U.S. side should apologize instead of seeking excuses to avoid responsibility." U.S. President George W. Bush expressed regret for the incident and U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell said Washington was "sorry" for the loss of life -- using a word that Beijing took as a step forward. While expressing regret and sorrow for the loss of the Chinese pilot, U.S. officials have refused to apologize for the collision because they do not believe it was their fault. U.S. officials doubt the EP-3E could have begun a slow turn to cause the collision, especially since sources say the U.S.-plane was on autopilot until the moment the two planes touched. "Many models of aircraft have autopilots, particularly those that are on long legs of a flight plan where no particular maneuvering is required," said Pentagon spokesman Rear. Adm. Craig Quigley. U.S. officials said Washington had offered a concession, short of an apology, aimed at ending the ordeal. In the latest draft of a letter being thrashed out by American and Chinese officials, the United States offered to express regret for the fact that its plane landed on Hainan Island without permission. "Diplomacy sometimes take a little longer than people would like," Bush told reporters at the White House. "I urge the Chinese to bring resolution to this issue. It's time for our people to come home." Momentum slowingThe momentum in the negotiations has slowed since last week, when officials spoke of "round the clock" diplomacy and meetings between U.S. and Chinese diplomats took place continuously. Behind the scenes, U.S. officials are working on a letter they hoped would resolve the dispute -- one that would involve an exchange of explanations about what happened and allow for a joint investigation into the incident.
While officials from President Bush on down speak of potential damage to U.S.-China relations, some aspects to the bilateral relationship already have become strained. On Monday, the Chinese Embassy in Washington hosted a reception, which Secretary of State Colin Powell instructed U.S. officials to boycott. "The secretary made quite clear that he considered it inappropriate for U.S. officials to be attending that reception," Boucher said. But if "there were social contacts that we might be able to use to advance the prospect of return of our air crew ... we would probably do that." The administration politely declined an offer by civil rights leader Jesse Jackson to go to China to seek the fliers' release. But a senior State Department official said the U.S. has not had unfettered access to the crew, and is working under the assumption that Chinese officials were eavesdropping on their meetings with the crew members through listening devices. The Associated Press & Reuters contributed to this report. RELATED STORIES:
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