Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)

DATE=4-8-01

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

NUMBER=2-274669

TITLE=U-S CHINA PLANE - (L)

BYLINE=JIM RANDLE

DATELINE=BEIJING

CONTENT=

VOICED AT:

INTRO: Twenty-four Americans are beginning their second week in Chinese custody on as diplomatic haggling continues over when and how to release them. Their plane made an emergency landing on China's Hainan Island last Sunday after a collision with a Chinese fighter jet. VOA's Jim Randle in Beijing reports U-S diplomats are seeking more meetings with the crew of the damaged surveillance plane.

TEXT: U-S military attache Neal Sealock, who met with the detained Americans early Sunday, says the United States is seeking twice-daily visits with the crew.

General Sealock says crew members are in good spirits and appreciate both the emails from home and the sports scores they have been allowed to receive.

A U-S diplomat says officials in Washington and Beijing are still trying to work out compromise language on a joint statement, somewhere between the apology demanded by China and the expression of regret offered by the United States.

U-S Ambassador Joseph Prueher took a break from diplomacy for a Palm Sunday Church service, but promised to interrupt any activity to attend further meetings with top Chinese officials.

Analysts say the longer the impasse drags on, the greater the potential damage to

Sino/U-S relations.

In a sign of hardening Congressional sentiment, head of the House International Relations Committee, Republican Henry Hyde referred to the detained Americans as 'hostages' and suggested China ought to apologize to the United States for interfering with U-S flights in international airspace.

Back in Beijing, China's Defense Minister Chi Haotian said Washington should not be able to 'shirk its responsibility' in this case.

One week ago, a U-S electronic surveillance plane and a Chinese jet fighter collided about 100 kilometers off China's southern coast. The Chinese plane was lost and the pilot is the subject of the largest search and rescue effort in China's history.

After the collision, the badly-damaged U-S plane fell thousands of meters while the pilot struggled for a painfully long five minutes to regain control of the big four engine craft, which then limped to an airport on China's Hainan Island. The 24 crew members have been detained under apparently good conditions since then. (Signed)

NEB/JR/PFH