U.S. Surveillance Flights Near China Unresolved
WASHINGTON, Apr 12, 2001 -- (Reuters) U.S. surveillance flights over the South China Sea that have irritated Beijing for some time remained an unresolved issue in the deal on Wednesday to release the American plane crew detained for 11 days.
But one senior U.S. official, after the crew left China to return home, said the United States will not give up surveillance flights near China despite Beijing's insistence that the matter be discussed.
Asked whether the United States would be willing to negotiate the frequency or routes of surveillance flights, the official said: "We don't envision doing any of that."
The eavesdropping flights, generally several times a month, collect radar, radio and other electronic transmissions.
The United States and China agreed to meet starting on April 18 to discuss the mid-air collision of a U.S. Navy EP-3 surveillance plane and a Chinese fighter jet which plunged the two countries into a tense diplomatic standoff.
China agreed to release the plane's 24 crew members after the United States issued a letter saying it was sorry without accepting responsibility.
The U.S. plane made an emergency landing on China's Hainan Island on April 1, while the Chinese plane crashed and its pilot was presumed dead.
The incident pushed to the surface a source of irritation for both sides that had been bubbling at lower levels.
China has been annoyed that the United States conducts surveillance flights near its shores. The United States had expressed concern over what it considered unsafe flying by Chinese fighter jets sent to intercept the U.S. planes.
ACCIDENT WAITING TO HAPPEN
"This was an accident waiting to happen," said House Intelligence Committee Chairman Porter Goss, a Florida Republican. "We've known about this for almost a year, that they're annoyed.
"They're trying to do things in Taiwan and Lop Nur and other places that they tend to feel that if they can't see us and we're out of sight that we're not listening or looking. Which of course is wrong, but it makes them feel better," he said in a telephone interview.
"Our position is we're following the rules in a properly marked military plane, going about proper military duties," Goss said. "We're there publicly and openly ... we're in internationally marked and acknowledged airspace, and everything is being done by the book."
At next week's meeting the two countries planned to discuss developing a plan to return to the United States the heavily damaged EP-3 plane which is incapable of flying with its nose cone and propeller destroyed, U.S. officials said.
A letter from U.S. Ambassador Joseph Prueher to Chinese Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan said: "We acknowledge your government's intention to raise U.S. reconnaissance missions near China in the meeting."
Intelligence experts said the flights were an integral part of U.S. national security efforts.
IMPORTANT INTELLIGENCE GATHERING TOOL
"I don't think the United States is going to stop the surveillance flights, we've been flying similar aircraft reconnaissance throughout much of the Cold War," Senate Intelligence Committee Vice Chairman Bob Graham said.
"Now in this post Cold War period it's an important part of our gathering information on capabilities and intentions of foreign governments," the Florida Democrat said.
"It not only contributes to our knowledge but also contributes to a greater degree of confidence and stability since we know based on our gathered facts more about what the other nation is going to do and therefore less likely to be swayed by rumor and misinformation," Graham said.
He said the damaged EP-3 would be put on a barge and taken to a U.S. port when China agreed to return the aircraft.
Until the crew is debriefed, U.S. officials said they will not know how much of the highly secret equipment and materials it was able to destroy before landing. The EP-3 aircraft is loaded with antennas and sophisticated electronics.
U.S. officials have said there was no evidence that Chinese authorities were dismantling the EP-3 turboprop, and that it remained unclear whether anything was removed from inside it.
John Pike, director of GlobalSecurity.org, a defense policy organization, said China probably had already learned what it could from studying the EP-3 over 11 days.
Pike said it was unlikely the United States would want to set a precedent for stopping surveillance flights which are legal in international airspace, but more likely would be crafting "rules of the road" to avoid any similar incidents.
