-Caveat Lector- WJPBR Email News List [EMAIL PROTECTED] Peace at any cost is a Prelude to War! Chinese pilot 'known to be a danger' By Toby Harnden in Washington THE Chinese fighter pilot presumed dead after a mid-air collision with a US spy plane had flown dangerously close to American aircraft before and was known as a hazard, Pentagon officials said last night. A satellite view of the US spy plane at Lingshui military airfield, Hainan Island Wang Wei, a naval officer who is thought to have ejected from his F-8 jet before it hit the sea, has been blamed by Washington for the weekend collision that has triggered a potential crisis in US-Sino relations. A Bush administration official said that Wang had been photographed by cameras mounted on American spy planes as he flew within feet of them. He said: "We have photos of pilots' faces. It was not the first time this individual had been that close to an aircraft. The number of intercepts and their aggressiveness has increased in recent weeks." The allegation seemed certain to heighten tensions. Chinese state media had already begun to laud the pilot as a hero martyred by reckless American actions. Striking a more conciliatory note, Gen Colin Powell, the Secretary of State, said: "We regret that the Chinese plane did not get down safely and we regret the loss of the life of that Chinese pilot. But now we need to bring this to a resolution. We are using every avenue available to us to talk to the Chinese side to exchange explanations and move on." Click to enlarge detail of damaged areas Although this stopped short of an apology, as China has demanded, the Chinese embassy in Washington said it was "a step in the right direction". American diplomats were trying to assess whether they could draft a form of words that would be acceptable. Angry exchanges between the two countries had intensified earlier yesterday, the fourth day of the stand-off over Beijing's decision not to release the 24-member crew of the EP-3 Aries spy plane, which made a forced landing on the militarised Hainan island, off southern China. Tang Jiaxuan, the Chinese foreign minister, accused America of having an "arrogant air". Jiang Zemin, the president, said that Washington "should bear all responsibilities for the collision incident" and added: "The US side should apologise to the Chinese people." The White House ruled that out. Ari Fleischer, President Bush's spokesman, said: "The United States government does not understand the reason for an apology. "Our airplane was operating in international air space and the crew did nothing wrong." In the last minutes before the collision, technicians on the EP-3 were likely to have been able to monitor Wang's radio transmissions to and from Hainan, as well as any conversations he had with the pilot of the jet accompanying him. Blaming Wang for the collision, Washington said: "There is no question which aircraft collided with which." The four-engine subsonic turboprop EP-3 had been flying "straight and level" while the jet was manoeuvring at supersonic speed. This was "not a great match for flying formation" and while the collision had been unintentional "it was not an accident that they were that close". Pentagon sources said that Chinese pilots were poorly trained and frequently made mistakes while flying. But the jets had continued to conduct aggressive close intercepts despite repeated American requests not to. A source quoted by the Washington Times said: "Lately we saw some unsafe flying practices coming within 30ft. This was more like flying cowboys . . . If anything goes wrong, that's not a lot of room for correction." By yesterday China had sent 48 planes and 29 ships to search for Wang. President Bush has resisted apologising because the collision took place in international air space and was not the fault of the EP-3. The nose cone, part of a wing and one of the EP-3's four engines were sheared off by the jet. It took the pilot five minutes to regain control. It was not known how many of the "emergency destruction" procedures had been followed in the 20 minutes it took to land on Hainan, from where Wang had taken off. The Pentagon claimed that crew members "successfully executed" the destruction of spy material even though their lives were in danger. But Adml Joseph Prueher, ambassador to Beijing, conceded that the Chinese would have been able to gain access to highly sensitive and top secret equipment. *COPYRIGHT NOTICE** In accordance with Title 17 U. S. C. 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