American diplomats were hopeful Saturday that they would be granted a third meeting with the captive crew of an American spy plane as the United States and China appeared to move closer to resolving the incident in which China has detained 24 Americans aboard a plane that collided with a Chinese fighter.
In one sign that negotiations had turned positive, Beijing allowed the second meeting Friday with the crew of the stranded aircraft and indicated a third would follow Saturday, U.S. officials said.
China also agreed to let officials meet with the crew regularly until their release; this represented a major change in the Chinese stance.
During the second visit, diplomats were allowed to visit the crew without Chinese officials present. Brig. Gen. Neal Sealock, who met with the 21 men and three women, reported to President Bush that the aircrew was being treated well and that their morale was high.
Meanwhile, in high-level Sino-American talks, the two nations began to outline an agreement to release the crew that would involve issuing a formal exchange of views and creation of a joint commission to investigate the incident and explore how to avoid recurrences.
The agreement would be designed to end the standoff, with China dropping its demand that Washington apologize for an accident that it says was not America’s fault.
The “exchange of explanations” is to be contained in a letter that was being drafted, said Sen. John Warner (R-Va.), chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee. Instead of an apology, it will express U.S. regret at the apparent death of the Chinese pilot in the collision.
“That letter is being reviewed both by our president and the president of China so it will reflect a common understanding,” Warner said. “We’ll move toward perhaps some center selection of language to convey the sentiments of both nations.”
The letter also will provide for the creation of a joint panel of experts to look into what happened when the EP-3E surveillance plane, on a reconnaissance mission 70 miles south of the island of Hainan, collided with one of two Chinese aircraft sent to challenge it.
The collision damaged the U.S. plane and forced it to land at a Chinese military base on the island, where its crew has been detained by the Chinese since last weekend. The Chinese fighter crashed, and its pilot is missing and presumed dead.
Public tenor unchanged
Despite the progress, the Chinese government’s public tenor has not changed. Beijing continues to demand an apology before freeing the Americans. On Friday, the surviving Chinese pilot described the accident on television, blaming the U.S. plane for veering into the fighter that crashed. The U.S. says the Chinese fighter was flying too aggressively and bumped the American plane.
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In China, there has been no mention of the proposed joint commission or a possible negotiated settlement, but according to the U.S. the two sides already were working on an agreement to prevent accidents at sea. The new panel would be incorporated into those talks, Warner said.
Many experts have noted that during the Cold War, American and Russian pilots developed informal rules that enabled them to avoid catastrophic misunderstandings when they conducted spying missions near each other’s shores.
But China only recently has begun to engage aggressively U.S. aircraft flying off its coast, so no similar Sino-U.S. understandings have developed. The Chinese position, in fact, has been that such surveillance missions are unacceptable.
Crew release possible
The crew aboard the EP-3E would be released as part of the overall agreement, including the exchange of views and establishment of the commission, Warner said, but it remains unclear how quickly that might happen. It also is unclear what would happen to the plane itself, which the United States wants returned.
Warner provided notably greater detail Friday than either the White House or State Department. It seemed unlikely he would divulge these specifics without the administration’s permission, however, and this may have been the White House’s way of revealing the information while keeping a discreet distance.
Throughout the day, U.S. officials spoke in a tone of guarded optimism that suggested negotiations were on the brink of a breakthrough.
“We are in very intensive discussions and negotiations and exchanging ideas and papers, and there has been movement,” said Secretary of State Colin Powell.
“I’m encouraged because there has been movement and because we are exchanging rather precise ideas as to how to bring this to a conclusion,” he said.
Bush, after speaking with a U.S. diplomat who visited the American crew Friday, said they are doing “just fine.” He added, “We are working hard to bring them home through intensive discussions with the Chinese government, and we think we’re making progress.”
More optimistic tone
The optimistic tone was a marked change from midweek, when administration officials feared public sentiment in China would make it difficult for that country’s leaders to release the crew for fear of seeming weak.
At the White House, spokesman Ari Fleischer sought to strike a balance between optimism at the flurry of diplomatic activity, which he called “ongoing and intense,” and a cautious sobriety. “The president is pleased with what is taking place, but he is cognizant of the fact that work does remain,” Fleischer said.
Fleischer suggested that the White House has been urging some members of Congress to tone down their heated rhetoric on the crisis until an agreement is reached and the crew members return home.
“In my judgment, each development in the past 24 hours has been a positive development, both from the perspective of the United States’ interest as well as China’s interest,” said Warner, who has been briefed by the administration.
“It’s my judgment, and it’s confirmed by others, that certainly the leadership of China did not want an accident of this type,” he said. “It has happened. Both nations are doing the very best they can to resolve it.”
Crew in `fine shape’
The meeting on Friday with the crew appeared to signal a positive turn in the standoff. Chinese officials allowed Sealock, the defense attache at the U.S. Embassy in Beijing, to visit the crew alone. At the first meeting, on Tuesday, Chinese officials insisted on remaining in the room.
Afterward, Sealock called Bush, who painted a positive picture of the crew’s conditions in brief comments to business representatives.
“They are housed in officers’ quarters, and they are being treated well,” Bush said.
Powell said the crew members are being housed in clean, well-lit rooms, with catered food and adequate provisions. They were being held two to a room, he said, with the exception of the three women who were in a single room.
“There is no indication of any physical or verbal mistreatment,” said the secretary of state.