US, China Warplanes Collision

 [News] [Papers]

Beijing Says U.S.-China Plane Incident Not Over
(Reuters, Oct. 25, 2001) China said on Thursday its dispute with the United States over compensation for an April collision between a U.S. spy plane and a Chinese fighter jet was not over. "We have lodged our request with the U.S. side and the amount they offered was entirely unacceptable."

US, China Agree on Return of Spy Plane
(Reuters, May 29, 2001) China and the United States have struck a deal on the return of a crippled US spy plane stranded on Hainan island, apparently signaling an end to a bitter wrangle that severely strained relations between the two nations. Under the agreement, the US Navy EP-3 reconnaissance plane, which made an emergency landing on Hainan on April 1 after a collision with a Chinese fighter jet, would be flown out in pieces aboard a giant Russian-designed Antonov-124 cargo plane.

U.S. Resumes South China Spying
(CNN.com, May 29, 2001) A U.S. spy plane has gathered intelligence along the southern Chinese coast for the first time since an April 1 collision between a U.S. spy plane and a Chinese fighter jet. While a number of reconnaissance flights have been conducted along the northern and central Chinese coast since the collision, Saturday's flight by an RC-135 marks the first time a surveillance plane has flown over the South China Sea where the incident occurred.

China Says It Will Return Disassembled U.S. Plane
(WP, May 25, 2001) China announced today it has agreed with the United States to have U.S. technicians dismantle and take home in pieces the damaged surveillance plane that landed on Hainan Island after colliding with a Chinese fighter jet. U.S. officials had hoped to repair the Navy EP-3E Aries II electronic surveillance plane and fly it home.

U.S. Resumes Its Spy Flights Close to China
(NYT, May 8, 2001) The United States resumed reconnaissance flights off the coast of China today for the first time since a collision on April 1 between a Navy surveillance plane and a Chinese fighter jet bruised relations between the two nations. An unarmed Air Force RC-135 took off from Kadena Air Base in Okinawa, Japan, flew its mission in international airspace off China's northeastern coast during daylight hours there and returned to its base without incident — and without being trailed by Chinese interceptors.

U.S. - China Talks 'Not Productive'
(AP, Apr. 18, 2001) American and Chinese officials held a tense 2 1/2-hour meeting about spy flights and U.S. officials are threatening to break off further talks unless Beijing is willing to discuss the return of a Navy reconnaissance jet. The White House called Wednesday's meeting in Beijing ``not productive.''

Carrier May Move to S. China Sea
(WP, Apr. 16, 2001) A U.S. aircraft carrier may be moved to a position in the South China Sea where it could launch fighter jets to protect U.S. reconnaissance flights off China's coast when those flights resume, Navy officials said yesterday. The flights may resume as early as Thursday in international airspace about 50 miles off the Chinese coast, officials indicated. Depending on the Chinese reaction, the addition of U.S. warplanes to the mix could lead to new confrontations or signal the resumption of routine military operations.

Bush Takes 'Tough' China Stance as Crew Returns to U.S.
(CNN.com, Apr. 13, 2001) Hours after freed U.S. crew members returned to the United States, President George W. Bush on Thursday announced a "tough" stance with China during upcoming talks. Bush defended the military flight missions as a vital way to obtain information for the United States and its allies. "Reconnaissance flights are part of a comprehensive national security strategy that helps maintain peace and stability in our world."

China To Release U.S. Plane Crew
(AP, Apr. 11, 2001) China on Wednesday said it would release the 24 detained crew members of a U.S. spy plane it has held for 11 days, but indicated it would hold the plane pending further talks. The end to the dramatic superpower stalemate came after President Bush sent China a letter saying the United States is "very sorry" for the plane's unauthorized landing and the death of a Chinese pilot. Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan said the crew would be released "on humanitarian grounds" as soon as "appropriate travel procedures" were completed.

U.S. Sends Beijing a Formal Statement Expressing Regret
(NYT, Apr. 11, 2001) Senior administration officials said that after days of negotiations with Beijing, the United States had submitted a formal statement of regret to the Chinese government and was waiting for China's leaders to say whether they would accept it and release the crew of an American spy plane.The American statement, the culmination of six days of talks and exchanges of drafts with the Chinese Foreign Ministry, expresses regret for the April 1 collision between the American plane and a Chinese fighter jet, in which a Chinese pilot was lost.

Bush Cautions China Over Standoff
(AP, Apr. 10, 2001) "Diplomacy takes time," Bush told reporters before a Cabinet meeting about his plans for the federal budget. "But there is a point – the longer it goes – there's a point at which our relations with China could become damaged." Bush broke new ground with the diplomacy-takes-time formulation. Advisers said it was a plea for patience aimed at conservatives who ratcheted up their anti-China rhetoric over the weekend and began to question his handling of the situation.

U.S.-China Diplomatic Crisis Could Impact Arms Sale to Taiwan, Says Powell
(AFP, Apr. 9, 2001) U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell said the diplomatic crisis caused by a collision between a U.S. spy plane and a Chinese jet fighter could influence U.S. lawmakers' opinion over arms sales to Taiwan. "The Taiwan arms sales stands alone and apart (from the standoff with China), and we do that with respect to Taiwan's defensive needs." "But I have to say that, of course, it's affecting the environment that we will be facing when we take the sale up on Capitol Hill if there is a perception that China is not acting in a responsible and reasonable manner."

Taiwan: Plane Shouldn't Affect Sales
(AP, Apr. 9, 2001) During a Monday visit with U.S. Senator Jay Rockefeller, Taiwanese President Chen Shui-bian made his first public comments about the U.S.-China plane dispute. He said he hoped Washington and China would quickly resolve their two-week dispute over the collision between a Chinese fighter jet and a U.S. plane. Chen also said that the spy plane issue should not affect Washington's decision to sell military hardware to Taiwan.

China's Military Demands Hard Line
(AP, Apr. 8, 2001) China's politically powerful military stepped up pressure Saturday for Beijing to take a hard line against Washington in a standoff over a U.S. spy plane. Diplomats said the plane's detained crew were in "high spirits" after receiving e-mails from their families. Defense Minister Gen. Chi Haotian said the People's Liberation Army won't let Washington "shirk responsibility," dampening hopes for an early release of the 24 U.S. crew members.

U.S., China May Ask Commission To Settle Dispute
(WP, Apr. 7, 2001) After two days of bargaining among high-level diplomats, a senior State Department official said the administration was drafting a document that would assign the dispute over the cause of the collision to an existing maritime commission, which is scheduled to convene in San Francisco late this month. The final wording of a deal would be reviewed by President Bush and Chinese President Jiang Zemin.

U.S. Words of Regret Ease China Tension
(WP, Apr. 6, 2001) China said the United States has moved in the right direction by expressing regret over the loss of a Chinese pilot whose jet collided with a U.S. surveillance plane, as diplomatic efforts accelerated in hopes of easing the standoff between Washington and Beijing and ending the detention here of 24 U.S. crew members. A Foreign Ministry spokesman, Sun Yuxi, repeated Chinese demands that the United States issue an official apology about the collision. "We do not want to see U.S.-Chinese relations affected by this incident."

Taiwan Supports Peace Resolution of PRC-U.S. Tensions
(AFP, Apr. 5, 2001) Taiwan will not take advantage of the Washington-Beijing standoff to tilt the U.S.'s policy in its favor, officials at the Presidential Office said. Yu Shyi-kun, secretary general of the Presidential Office, said the government hopes that Washington and Beijing resolve the tensions peacefully. There were concerns that Washington, scheduled to decide by the end of the month the weapons it will transfer to Taiwan this year, will succumb to Beijing's pressure and eventually cut the sale list.

Taiwan Air Force Prepares to Test AIM-120 Practice Missiles
(Taipei Times, Apr. 5, 2001) The air force has received delivery of practice versions of the AIM-120 advanced medium-range air-to-air missile, with which it plans to train F-16 fighter pilots in anticipation of receiving the real missile, a defense source said yesterday. "The only difference between these practice missiles and the real ones is that the former does not have a warhead. That's why these practice missiles are still very expensive to use."

Fighter Jet Flew Below U.S. Plane Before Impact
(WP, Apr. 5, 2001) The midair collision that touched off a crisis between China and the United States occurred after a Chinese F-8 interceptor started to fly directly below a U.S. surveillance plane and the U.S. aircraft executed a banking maneuver to the left, Western sources said today. A U.S. defense official said Chinese planes began flying extremely close to U.S. surveillance planes late last fall, prompting the United States to raise the issue with the Chinese in Decembe

U.S. Voices Regret Over Chinese Pilot
(WP, Apr. 5, 2001) Secretary of State Colin L. Powell struck a conciliatory note toward China, expressing regret over the disappearance of a Chinese pilot whose fighter jet collided with a U.S. Navy surveillance plane on Sunday and urging a dialogue about what caused the collision. Powell sought to assuage Beijing's sensitivities without retreating from the administration's vow on Tuesday that it would not apologize for the incident.

Bush Applying Pressure on China
(AP, Apr. 4, 2001) Walking a fine line, President Bush is pursuing a strategy toward China that is increasingly firm but calculated to leave ample room for a diplomatic settlement over the fate of a crash-damaged Navy spy plane and its American crew members. "Our approach has been to keep this accident from becoming an international incident. We have allowed the Chinese government time to do the right thing," Bush said.

Jiang Demands Halt to Spy Flights, Blames U.S. for Crash
(CNN.com, Apr. 3, 2001) Chinese president Jiang Zemin has demanded the United States accepts full responsibility for the collision of a Chinese fighter and a U.S. spy plane and halts all surveillance flights near China's coast. His call came as two U.S. diplomats began their journey on China's Hainan Island to meet the 24 crew members of a damaged EP-3E Aries II forced into an emergency landing early Sunday after hitting a Chinese F-8 fighter jet.

Bush Asks China to Release U.S. Spy Plane and Crew
(NYT, Apr. 2, 2001) President Bush today demanded the swift and safe return of a Navy spy plane that made an emergency landing in China on Sunday after colliding with a Chinese fighter jet that was closely following it. Mr. Bush said late this morning that he was troubled by the lack of an immediate response from the Chinese government and that China should at once let diplomats from the United States embassy in China visit the crew of the Navy plane.

China, U.S. Trade Blame Over Plane Collision
(Reuters, Apr. 2, 2001) China and the United States blamed each other for a mid-air collision over the South China Sea between a U.S. spy plane carrying 24 crew and a Chinese fighter on an interception mission. China issued an angry statement saying the fighter crashed after being rammed by the U.S. aircraft, which made an emergency landing on the southern Chinese island of Hainan. But the head of the U.S. Pacific Command, Admiral Dennis Blair, said it was probably an accident caused by the fighter bumping into the American plane.

U.S. Expects Return of Plane, Crew
(Washington Post, Apr. 2, 2001) For the United States, the principal goal in negotiations with the Chinese over the fate of its downed surveillance aircraft is to get the plane back -- intact and without loss of its classified equipment. Whether this happens sooner or later could depend not only on diplomacy but also on questions of international law. Whose fault was the midair collision with the Chinese F-8 fighter? Whose fault was it that the U.S. EP-3 surveillance plane had to land on China's Hainan Island?

Chinese Jets Intercept U.S. Navy Plane
(CNN.com, Apr. 1, 2001) A U.S. Navy patrol aircraft has been forced to make an emergency landing in China after what officials describe as a "minor" mid-air collision with a Chinese fighter jet. The incident occurred at approximately 0915 local time Sunday over the South China Sea when Chinese fighters intercepted the EP-3 surveillance plane during what the U.S. Navy says was a routine patrol flight. "There was contact between one of the Chinese aircraft and the EP-3, causing sufficient damage for the U.S. plane to issue a 'mayday' signal and divert to an airfield on Hainan Island, in the People's Republic of China."

Clash With China Strengthens Hard-Liners By Steven Mufson
(Washington Post, Apr. 23, 2001) The controversy surrounding the collision of a U.S. surveillance plane and a Chinese interceptor over the South China Sea has bolstered the position of those in Washington advocating a tougher stance toward China, who find the Bush administration listening to their opinions. Instead of old China hands, the administration is stockpiled with people who view China as a potential threat and a "strategic competitor."

Crisis Leaves US Wondering Who Calls the Shots in China
(Associated Press, Apr. 16, 2001) Just who is in charge in China? American diplomats wondered as they tried to win the release of the captive crew of a US spy plane. The president? His rivals? The generals? Even after the end of the 11-day standoff and the release of 24 Americans, the answer is still not clear. US officials learned little of Beijing's decision-making process during the standoff, other than its outcome being a high-level consensus.

Lessons From a Standoff By Samuel R. Berger
(Washington Post, Apr. 13, 2001) So what have we learned from the standoff with China over the release of our Navy crew? we learned that what is at stake in the U.S.-China relationship is important enough to seek a path away from confrontation, if possible. How China evolves over the next decade -- toward integration with other countries or in a more nationalistic and disruptive direction -- will be decisive for stability and peace in Asia and beyond.

China Policy, Without Regrets By Bates Gill
(New York Times, Apr. 12, 2001) There are lessons to be learned in how to deal with a China that will be increasingly capable and, if we are not careful, increasingly willing to frustrate American interests in East Asia. Looking further ahead, the two sides should revive dormant defense consultation talks and begin a more serious and realistic strategic dialogue. Such discussions will need to address the roles of our respective armed forces in the region, China's provocative defense buildup (which includes nuclear missiles), and how the two sides can maintain a stable relationship in the event that missile- defense systems are built.

Lasting Impact on U.S. View of China By Jim Mann
(LA Times, Apr. 12, 2001) Although the standoff on Hainan island has ended, its impact on U.S.-China relations will be lasting. China's political support in the United States has been weakened, with many of those who have urged sympathy for China in the past failing to rush to Beijing's side this time. At the same time, the incident will probably harden the view among some U.S. military and security officials that China is a potential long-term adversary.

China Buildup Has Taiwan on Edge By Michael R. Gordon
(New York Times, Apr. 8, 2001) The collision between an American spy plane and a Chinese fighter jet has focused attention on China's military buildup. But none of the pilots at this air base in southern Taiwan need any reminders. With the Chinese mainland just 100 miles away, Taiwan's F-16 fighter aircraft roar into the air to patrol the uneasy Taiwan Strait. Their Chinese counterparts, in turn, take to the air in SU-27's and other Russian-designed fighters.

Old Game, New Risks By Kurt M. Campbell
(Washington Post, Apr. 8, 2001) Except the Cold War is 10 years dead and the other nation involved is China. And while the United States and China are not exactly friends, they are far from enemies. In recent years the two governments have been working together on a range of significant initiatives, from seeking Chinese entry into the World Trade Organization to trying to prevent conflict on the Korean peninsula. So we are acting out a familiar scenario -- but without the familiar safeguards of the Cold War years.

Standoff Sours Americans' View of China, Survey Finds
(Washington Post, Apr. 7, 2001) In a Washington Post/ABC News poll conducted Thursday night, respondents by more than 2 to 1 viewed China as an "unfriendly" country, and a fifth viewed it as an "enemy." Similarly, half of those polled said the United States should regard China primarily as a military threat, and 36 percent said U.S. policy should consider China mainly a trading partner.

In Beijing's Moves, A Strategy on Taiwan By John Pomfret
(Washington Post, Apr. 6, 2001) When 24 U.S. servicemen and women made an emergency landing on a Chinese airfield Sunday, they presented China's military with a golden opportunity to advance the goal that dominates its strategy: reuniting Taiwan with the mainland. First, possession of the U.S. Navy EP-3E Aries II has provided access to some of the advanced technology that symbolizes U.S. military dominance in Asia. Second, for some in the Chinese hierarchy, the standoff over the detained U.S. crew has been a chance to test how far the United States will go to defend its role in the Taiwan Strait.

Anti-China Coalition in Congress Is Emboldened By Alison Mitchell
(New York Times, Apr. 5, 2001) With the standoff between China and the United States showing no sign of being resolved, members of Congress expressed growing sentiment for selling advanced weapons to Taiwan. And an emboldened anti-China coalition began talking about the more remote possibility of denying China normal trade relations.

The Politics of Apology By William Safire
(New York Times, Apr. 5, 2001) As facts trickle out, it becomes ever more apparent that the Chinese policy of endangerment was the cause of the accident, compounded by those seven succeeding wrongful acts. The United States is not demanding an apology because it wants its crew back; we also know that such a bootless demand would reveal national insecurity, as China's nervous politicians now display.

China’s Strategy: Shocking the System By George Friedman
(Stratfor.com, Apr. 5, 2001) Beijing is using this incident to shift the global balance of power, hoping such a shock to the international system might weaken perceptions of American military omnipotence. The international system’s basic reality has been a disequilibrium among global powers the result of which will be other great powers acting to limit American power. China’s desire for multipolarity is this process at work.

China Is Not an Enemy and Shouldn't Be Provoked By William Pfaff
(International Herald Tribune, Apr. 5, 2001) The Hainan Incident was waiting to happen. It was statistically foreseeable, given the number of years that airborne electronic surveillance of China has gone on, that a plane would go down. Aircraft have gone down elsewhere, making trouble whenever they did. One needs to ask how long it has been since Washington has made a cost-benefit analysis of this provocative practice. The United States really does not need to make this country an enemy.

Standoff Worrying U.S. Allies In Asia
(Washington Post, Apr. 5, 2001) Strained relations between Washington and Beijing frayed nerves throughout Asia today, as officials worried that the standoff over the fate of the U.S. Navy surveillance plane and its 24 crew members on China's Hainan Island could upset markets and jostle fragile security arrangements elsewhere in the region. Japanese leaders dread the prospect of being dragged into a tussle with a large and often unpredictable regional power.

Reconnaissance Flights and Sino-American Relations: Policy Developments and a Hainan Island Incident, 1969-1970
(National Security Archive, Apr. 4, 2001) Declassified archival material from the first year of the Nixon administration sheds light on Cold War policy on reconnaissance flights near Chinese territory. They confirm how risky the policy was: before April 1969, U.S. reconnaissance aircraft could fly as close as twenty miles from the Chinese coast.

Chinese Driven By Anger, Pride By John Pomfret
(Washington Post, Apr. 4, 2001) Chinese leaders have chosen a hard-line course in their standoff with Washington partly in response to nationalistic public opinion -- which the government itself helped cultivate -- and disagreement among competing ministries over how to deal with the United States. The stiffness of China's attitude grows from a determination not to repeat the experience of 1999, when U.S. warplanes bombed the Chinese Embassy in Yugoslavia.

Old Hijinks May Pull the Rug From the U.S. Claim to Plane By Christopher Drew
(New York Times, Apr. 4, 2001) If the collision between the Navy surveillance plane and a Chinese fighter jet last Sunday occurred where the Pentagon has indicated, the Bush administration has strong legal standing in demanding that both the plane and its crew be released promptly, several legal experts said yesterday. But in the more practical realm of negotiating that release, they said, the American position could be damaged, to a degree, by some of the Pentagon's own cold war escapades.

Flare-up With China By Bates Gill
(Washington Post, Apr. 3, 2001) While cooler heads may prevail on this latest flare-up in U.S.-China relations, passions run high in both countries. The leaders in Beijing and Washington need to get out in front and avoid politicized choices over the incident. This episode should be a wake-up call. Conflict with China is not inevitable, but in the absence of active efforts to manage contentious differences, "minor incidents" will quickly escalate to larger crises.

Can Trust Spring From Aerial Danger? By Michael Swaine
(Los Angeles Times, Apr. 3, 2001) The collision of a U.S. Navy electronic surveillance aircraft with a Chinese jet fighter has created a very delicate--and potentially dangerous--situation. If not handled correctly by both sides, this incident could deteriorate significantly in the days ahead and seriously damage an already precarious China-U.S. relationship. If handled properly, however, the incident arguably could increase the current meager level of trust existing on both sides and lower tensions overall.

Time of Appeasement or Confrontation? By Amos Perlmutter
(Washington Times, Apr. 3, 2001) The Chinese oppose the essentials of the Bush strategy: missile defense and an aggressive policy toward Saddam Hussein. They support international terrorism, weapons of mass destruction for Iran and Iraq, and nuclear development in Pakistan. This is hardly a strategic partner. We must deal with the arrogant Chinese communists in their own terms. They appreciate political and military power. Therefore, an appeasement policy is impractical and we must negotiate from a position of strength.

A Buildup Of Irritation In Relations By John Pomfret
(Washington Post, Apr. 3, 2001) The collision of a U.S. reconnaissance plane and a Chinese jet fighter over the South China Sea has added to a growing list of quarrels between Washington and Beijing that has hardened an adversarial tone in U.S.-Chinese relations and raised the possibility of a big-power confrontation in Asia. Despite unprecedented bilateral trade and the promise in recent years of an emerging partnership, a sense is growing in Beijing that the U.S. and Chinese governments, driven by accident as well as policy, may drift into the type of standoff that characterized U.S. relations with the Soviet Union for decades during the Cold War.

Military Analysis: 'A Dangerous Game' By Michael R. Gordon
(New York Times, Apr. 3, 2001) The collision between a Chinese fighter and an United States Navy intelligence plane over the weekend was more than a random accident. It also reflected an increasingly dangerous rivalry between the Chinese and American militaries. After decades of keeping watch over its own skies, China's Air Force has begun in recent years to range farther out above the waters beyond its borders. The United States, in turn, has expanded its intelligence- gathering in the region.

Cooling it in South China
(Editorial, Financial Times, Apr. 3, 2001) The stand-off between Washington and Beijing after the mid-air collision between a US Navy surveillance aircraft and a Chinese warplane could scarcely have come at a more sensitive moment. The Bush administration is to decide this month on a big arms sale to Taiwan, including the sophisticated Aegis anti-missile radar system. China says that if the destroyer-based radar is part of the package, it will be taken as a hostile act.

R-E-S-P-E-C-T!  By Ralph A. Cossa
(Pacific Forum, PacNet 13A, Apr. 2, 2001) The collision between a Chinese Air Force fighter and an American reconnaissance aircraft in international airspace over the South China Sea represents an unfortunate, unplanned, but nonetheless important test of the maturity of the Sino-U.S. relationship and of the Chinese leadership as well.  Thus far, Beijing appears to be flunking the test. Having portrayed the incident in a way that generated the type of protests (thus far peaceful) already occurring in Chinese streets, Beijing can now point to this public reaction to justify a more hardline approach toward the U.S. in dealing with the aftermath of the incident.

Spy Plane Dispute May Affect Taiwan By William Foreman
(Associated Press, Apr. 2, 2001) The dispute between the United States and China over a collision between an American spy plane and a Chinese fighter may make Washington more sympathetic to Taiwan's requests for advanced weapons, a Taiwanese defense official said. Beijing is lobbying the United States not to agree to sell this island high-tech destroyers and other defensive arms during negotiations in Washington that are expected to wrap up in a few weeks.

Beijing Looks to Get Tough By Willy Wo-Lap Lam
(CNN.com, Apr. 2, 2001) Beijing is expected to take a substantially harder line on ties with the United States after the most serious military confrontation between both sides since diplomatic relations were established in 1979. Senior Chinese cadres, including Politburo members and army officers, met in emergency session several hours after the collision between the American reconnaissance plane and the Chinese jet-fighter.