Intelligence

DATE=7/6/01

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

TITLE=U-S / CHINA PLANE (L ONLY)

NUMBER=2-277994

BYLINE=ALEX BELIDA

DATELINE=PENTAGON

CONTENT=

VOICED AT:

INTRO: United States officials say China has submitted an exaggerated bill of charges in connection with the incident in which a U-S E-P-3 surveillance plane made an emergency landing on China's Hainan Island. V-O-A Correspondent Alex Belida reports from the Pentagon.

TEXT: Pentagon spokesman Rear Admiral Craig Quigley said earlier this week the United States was prepared to pay for what he termed "reasonable" support costs in connection with the E-P-3.

But State Department officials have now disclosed that China's bill is in the vicinity of one-million dollars and they are signaling that this is not acceptable.

The bill includes what officials say are charges for the expenses incurred by the plane's crew during their 11-day involuntary detention on Hainan Island. Also included are charges for the recovery operation for the Chinese pilot lost at sea after his fighter jet collided with the U-S Navy plane -- the incident that led the E-P-3 to make its April First emergency landing.

One senior official says of the Chinese bill: "It's nice to know they have a sense of humor." This official tells reporters the United States will be responding in the same spirit that China presented it.

China refused to let U-S workers repair the aircraft and fly it off Hainan Island. Instead the plane was disassembled and flown out in parts.

A huge chartered Russian cargo plane arrived in the southern U-S state of Georgia Thursday with the pieces. Pentagon officials say it will be rebuilt unless further inspections show the E-P-3's repairs will be too expensive. (Signed)

NEB/BEL/JWH