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Pentagon considers restarting surveillance flights
No date set for new U.S.-China spy plane talks
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- As talks between U.S. and Chinese officials about the collision of a U.S. spy plane and a Chinese fighter plane stalled Thursday, the Pentagon debated when and how to resume surveillance flights off China's coast. Pentagon sources say a big sticking point is whether surveillance aircraft should have some kind of escort when the flights resume. The U.S. military leadership, Pentagon sources said, does not like the idea of escorts for surveillance flights, believing it would set a bad precedent and could decrease safety. Other administration officials believe it might be necessary for the United States to show it is willing to protect its flights, particularly if China takes a hard line.
One compromise might be have U.S. F-15s from the air base in Okinawa, Japan flying at the same time as the surveillance flights, but some distance away to keep an eye on things. Publicly, administration officials would only say that they have a right to conduct those surveillance flights in international air space. Talks will continueIt was during one of those surveillance flights on April 1 that the U.S. spy plane collided with a Chinese fighter jet. A second day of talks on Thursday about the incident ended with neither side giving ground to dueling accusations that the other was at fault. While they also reached no agreement on the return of the $100 million U.S. Navy EP-3E or the Chinese demand for an end to the surveillance missions, the diplomats did agree to keep talking, U.S. officials said. "They agreed to refer discussion of the 'rules of the road' -- how to prevent future accidents in the air -- to the Military Maritime consultative mechanism, and we are looking for a date for that," a Bush official told CNN. The Military Maritime Commission, set up during the Clinton administration to resolve problems between the United States and China over issues at sea, had been scheduled to meet on Sunday, but cited lack of preparation time in delaying the meeting indefinitely. The Chinese said they would forward the U.S. plan to recover the badly damaged surveillance plane to their superiors, the official said. Meanwhile, the official said, the Bush administration awaits China's response before deciding on the next course of action. The U.S. delegation holding the last two days of meetings was to leave Beijing on Friday, but White House officials said that talks would continue through "diplomatic channels" until a new meeting is set. Dueling videosThursday's talks "were businesslike," a Bush administration official told CNN. "We completed all the agenda items." A U.S. official in Beijing told CNN there would be no resolution until the two sides could agree on what caused the accident. U.S. officials say the Chinese pilot flew too close to the Navy plane, clipping a propeller with its tail. As evidence, the U.S. released video of Chinese jets -- including the plane that Wang Wei, the pilot involved in this month's collision, was known to have flown -- apparently cruising within a few feet of the slow-moving reconnaissance plane. But the Chinese fought back with videotapes of their own, purportedly showing American fighter pilots flying near Chinese planes -- including some images showing U.S. pilots taking pictures of Chinese pilots taking pictures of them. The collision -- over international waters in the South China Sea -- forced the Chinese jet into the sea and sent the crippled U.S. plane to an emergency landing at the nearest landing strip -- China's Langshui military base on the Chinese island of Hainan. Wang is missing and presumed dead. China held the 24 U.S. crew members for 11 days while diplomats forged an agreement for their release. The deal included an American apology for the loss of the Chinese pilot and for landing the damaged plane without "verbal permission" from Chinese officials.
The meetings to discuss the incident, which began on Wednesday, were also part of that agreement. The first day of talks broke up after just two hours with U.S. officials saying there was no point continuing unless China agreed to discuss the return of the plane. But after a visit by U.S. Ambassador to China Joseph Prueher to the Chinese Foreign Ministry, the talks were on again Thursday, when the Chinese released an animated graphic depicting their version of the incident. China says that the U.S. plane took a sharp turn and a dive, striking the Chinese F-8 as the fighter tried to warn the larger, slower EP-3E away from China's coast. That animation contradicts the story told by the crew of the Navy plane, however. Lt. Shane Osborn, who coaxed the limping plane to a safe landing in China, and his crew said that Chinese pilots regularly fly very close during intercept missions and that on April 1, Wang cut the maneuver too close. The EP-3E, Osborn said, was on autopilot and flying "straight and level" at the time of the accident. Pentagon Correspondent Jamie McIntyre, CNN Beijing Bureau Chief Rebecca MacKinnon and White House Correspondent Kelly Wallace contributed to this report. RELATED STORIES:
U.S., China resume talks RELATED SITES:
U.S. Navy factfile: The EP-3 |
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