At first glance, yes. But to put the matter into perspective you have to
stay focused on the truth: the U.S. aircraft was in international
airspace -- what it did is not illegal. International waters/airspace are
only 20 miles off of any coast.
I know from experience that we were always VERY careful to stay in
international airspace in order to avoid the circumstances in which we now
find ourselves. We were often intercepted and escorted, and occasionally the
fighters got a little aggressive. I believe that the Chinese pilot just
"plane" screwed up, even if the U.S. aircraft actually turned into the
fighter (that's called flying in formation). It's okay for the U.S. to
regret the accident happend, but an apology would misrepresent the fact that
the accident occurred in international airspace and that it was almost
certainly caused by the Chinese escort.
Whatever the U.S. does, the most important thing is to get the crew home.
The next goal would be to get the aircraft back. Believe me, the fact that
China has the aircraft and probably won't return it is very bad news for the
U.S. and its allies.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Erika L Walker" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: "CF-Community" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Sent: Thursday, April 05, 2001 9:06 AM
Subject: RE: The sitaution with the p3 Orion in China
> That's the first real reason I've heard of in the past few days. That
makes
> total sense to me.....however....doesn't it kind of put the US in between
a
> rock and hard place? How long can the Chinese hold on to our crew members?
>
> Erika
>
> "What's good about telling the truth is there's nothing to remember." -
John
> Ford Noonan
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Chris Michl [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]
> Sent: Thursday, April 05, 2001 9:39 AM
> To: CF-Community
> Subject: Re: The sitaution with the p3 Orion in China
>
>
> I was one of the "spies" in the back of the Air Force equivalent to the
EP-3
> for 8 years, so I guess I feel I'm somewhat qualified to comment here. One
> of the reasons the U.S. can't simply apologize is that the crew is still
> being held captive.
> If the U.S. apologizes there is a possibility that the Chinese will put
the
> crew on trial and use the admission against them. IF an apology is due
(and
> I doubt it is) it should be made AFTER the crew is returned.
>
> Remember too that the crew is being interrogated -- in fact, the pilot is
> now separated from the rest -- so anything said by the U.S. government or
in
> the Press can, and will, be used against them. I've got only a little bit
of
> experience in being interrogated, but believe me, it can be a frightening
> and confusing experience.
>
> Chris
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