Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)

DATE=5/1/01

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

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

NUMBER=2-275545

BYLINE=DAVID MCGUFFIN

DATELINE=BEIJING

CONTENT=

VOICED AT:

/// EDS: UPDATING INTRO OF 2-275531, U-S TEAM HAS ARRIVED, DELETES FIRST GRAF OF TEXT. PLEASE MAKE TAPE COMPLY WITH TEXT ///

INTRO: A team of U-S technicians has arrived in southern China, to inspect an American spy plane that collided with a Chinese fighter jet a month ago. The five-member team wants to determine how much the aircraft is damaged and whether it can be returned home. David McGuffin has this report from Beijing.

TEXT: The inspection is the first breakthrough in getting the return of 80-million U-S Navy aircraft. The surveillance aircraft collided with a Chinese fighter jet April first and made an emergency landing on Hainan Island. The plane's crew was released after 11 days, but China held on to the plane.

U-S Ambassador to China Joseph Prueher said Tuesday the plane issue was having what he called a corrosive effect on relations between the two countries.

Firsthand information on the mission is not forthcoming because Chinese officials have barred any foreign media from Hainan Island.

However, reports from Washington say the team will determine how the E-P-3 plane can be taken apart for shipment back to the United States. U-S officials say the group will spend at least two days determining the full extent of damage to the aircraft.

If China then agrees to release the aircraft - and there is no indication yet when this will happen - another team will go to the island to take the plane apart. It is not clear whether the plane is too damaged to be repaired and flown home.

The plane's 24-member crew is said to have destroyed as much sensitive information as possible while guiding the plane to an emergency landing.

China and the United States still remain at odds over the cause of the crash. Each side blames the other for causing the collision that cost the life of Chinese F-8 fighter pilot Wang Wei. (signed)

NEB/dm/gpt/KBK