From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Reply-To: "STOP NATO: ¡NO PASARAN!" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Date: Sun, 8 Apr 2001 14:41:40 EDT China's Military Warns U.S. Over Plane Crisis http://news.lycos.com/headlines/world/article.asp?docid=RTINTERNATIONAL-CRAS H- CHINA-DC&date=20010408 Sunday, April 08, 2001 By Andrew Browne BEIJING (Reuters) - China's powerful military establishment weighed in to the crisis over 24 detained U.S. air crew on Sunday by vowing that the United States would not be allowed to escape responsibility for the spy plane incident. But as the crew of the surveillance aircraft began a second week in custody on Hainan Island, U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney insisted that Washington had no intention of apologizing for their mid-air collision which downed a Chinese fighter. The hardline stand by the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA), reported in major newspapers, could prolong the crisis, analysts said. But Chinese and U.S. officials went on with work on drafting a joint communiqu aimed at resolving the dispute. Secretary of State Colin Powell warned that it was damaging relations and demanded the crew's immediate release. He said there was no evidence of U.S. responsibility for the crash. Chinese leaders are anxious to avoid a meltdown in China-U.S. ties. But any compromise they make would have to take into consideration the reaction of hawkish generals. China has demanded a full apology for last Sunday's crash off its south coast. But the United States insists it will not go further than expressing regret for the lost Chinese pilot. The main military newspaper, the Liberation Army Daily, quoted Defense Minister Chi Haotian saying the collision was "entirely caused by the U.S. side." China "will not let them push the blame onto others," he said. In an indication that the military could delay any quick resolution of the crisis, the paper said Chinese authorities had the right to conduct "a full and thorough investigation of the entire incident, including those responsible on the U.S. military plane and the U.S. military plane itself." And it demanded the United States halt surveillance flights off China's coast. RELATIONS DAMAGED Cheney said the United States had no plans to apologize. "The president has made it clear we regret the loss of the Chinese pilot as a result of this accident," he said in an interview to be broadcast with NBC's "Meet the Press" program. "The notion that we would apologize for being in international airspace, for example, is not something we can accept." Powell was even more forthright, stressing in a television interview that China-U.S. relations had already been hurt. "The relationship is being damaged," Powell told "Fox News Sunday." "We're pretty sure of our facts, we're pretty sure of what happened. I have seen no evidence to suggest that our plane did anything that was improper or caused this accident. "The crew should be released as soon as possible. Whatever price the Chinese ultimately pay, they are making it worse." Nevertheless, Powell said China and the United States were still in "intense negotiations" and "things are moving along." In Hainan's capital Haikou, U.S. diplomats were pressing for unrestricted access to the crew, who made an emergency landing on the southern island province after the collision. But there was still no word on the timing of a fourth meeting with them. ARMY SEES AIRCREW AS PAYBACK Political analysts say the PLA and hardline elements in the Communist Party are keen to use the detained Americans to humiliate the United States as payback for a string of perceived insults and aggressive actions toward China. The military brass is still smarting from the U.S. bombing of the Chinese embassy in Belgrade in 1999, which Washington says was an accident during air strikes against Yugoslavia. The PLA is alarmed by the prospect of U.S. sales of high technology weapons to Taiwan and plans for a missile defense shield that would emasculate China's small nuclear arsenal. President Jiang Zemin heads the armed forces as the head of the Communist Party's Central Military Commission and must tread a fine line between his desire for strong ties with the United States and his need to retain military support. An uncompromising position by the PLA would cloud prospects for a quick release of the 21 American men and three women. Efforts to end the crisis seemed to hinge on a choice of words in a communiqu being drafted to allow a face-saving way out for both Jiang and President Bush. Defense Minister Hao was quoted by the army newspaper as saying said the incident showed China had to beef up the military to defend against "hegemonism" -- code for Washington. "We must turn our anger at hegemonism into tremendous motive force," Chi said on a visit to the wife of missing pilot Wang Wei, whose F-8 fighter collided with the unarmed U.S. EP-3. "We must go all-out to make our country and our armed forces still stronger." In Haikou, U.S. diplomats waited for a fourth meeting with the crew. On Saturday they gave them morale-boosting e-mails from home, toiletries and the latest American sports scores. "We are still working hard for unfettered daily access to the crew and we asked to see them twice a day," Defense Attach Brigadier-General Neal Sealock told reporters. Of Saturday's late-night meeting in the military-run Nanhang No 1 Guesthouse, he said: "It was very heartening to see them in very high spirits in very good health and good condition." Free access to the crew may ease what could be long and tortuous negotiations over the letter, which U.S. officials said would set out a mechanism for an exchange of views. Patience is wearing thin among U.S. lawmakers and there is talk of trade retaliation and other sanctions. Copyright ©2001 Reuters Limited. Get your personalized news here. Copyright © 2001 Lycos, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Lycos® is a registered trademark of Carnegie Mellon University. _________________________________________________ KOMINFORM P.O. Box 66 00841 Helsinki Phone +358-40-7177941 Fax +358-9-7591081 http://www.kominf.pp.fi General class struggle news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe mails to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Geopolitical news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] __________________________________________________
