Spy plane standoff enters second week

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From staff and wire reports

BEIJING, China -- As a spy plane standoff between the United States and China enters its second week, there are still no signs of an immediate breakthrough.

Efforts to end the crisis, which threatens China-U.S. relations if it drags on much longer, appear to hinge on a suitable choice of words that will allow a face-saving way out for both sides.

China is keeping up its demands for a full apology after a U.S. Navy plane collided with one of its fighter jets on April 1. China accuses the U.S. pilot of breaking the law by making an emergency landing at a Chinese air base without asking permission. (See map locating incident.)

But the United States has only offered its regret, saying it believes the collision was an accident and has demanded the return of its plane and crew who are detained on a South Chinese island.

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Meantime, there are signs that patience is wearing thin on both sides.

U.S. lawmakers are becoming more vocal in their protests and there is talk of trade retaliation and other sanctions.

And in a sign that China's politically powerful military is pressing for a hard line with Washington, it's top military newspaper said on Sunday Beijing is entitled to "thoroughly investigate" the detained air crew and their spy plane.

The Liberation Arms Daily paper also demanded an end to surveillance flights near the coast.

The stern military tone contrasts with assurances by civilian leaders that Beijing wants an early settlement and does not want to hurt U.S.-Chinese relations.

'High spirits'

American diplomats were allowed to meet the 24-member crew on Sunday morning, their third visit, on the island where the U.S. Navy plane made an emergency landing.

"The air crew is well. ... (We're) hoping to get them out of here before too long," U.S. Ambassador Joseph Prueher said as he walked into church Sunday.

The crew have been detained on Hainan Island in the South China Sea since they were forced to land there a week ago.

A diplomat who met with the U.S. crew Sunday said they were in "high spirits" after receiving e-mails from their families.

"They are looking forward to going home. They do offer that they very much appreciate the e-mails that they've been allowed to receive from home," the U.S. Embassy military attache, Army Brig. Gen. Neal Sealock said.

In a positive sign, Sealock said U.S. diplomats had "unfettered access" to the crew Sunday. He said he updated the crew on efforts to win their release and on news and sports. Previous meetings were tightly controlled.

Sealock said he has asked to see the crew twice daily. Prueher said diplomats were waiting for a response from the Foreign Ministry.

One of biggest searches

In one of the biggest searches ever undertaken by the Chinese Navy, search and rescue operations continued to look for missing Chinese pilot, Wang Wei, over the weekend.

"Although the hope of Wang Wei surviving is getting slim, we will continue to do our utmost to find him," Xinhua quoted Lu Zhiyi, commander of the rescue center on HainanLu as saying.

Chinese media coverage has increasingly focused on the distress of the family of the missing pilot, including his wife and six-year-old son, Wang Zi.

The official Xinhua news agency said the boy did not know his father was missing.

Letter from pilot's wife

While the search goes on, Wang Wei's wife has sent a letter to U.S. President George W. Bush, calling his actions in the U.S.-China standoff "cowardly" and demanding a U.S. apology for the incident, officials said. (More on the letter to Bush.)

No immediate response is expected, they added.

"The president's focus is on our diplomatic efforts to win the release of the crew," a White House official said.

A senior official said there was no change in the administration's position that there would be no apology.

Chinese President Jiang Zemin, on a tour of Latin America, has made no comment on the impasse since Thursday.

Repeated calls

Meanwhile China's defense minister repeated calls Sunday that the U.S. take responsibility for the collision, the country's state-run news agency Xinhua reported.

The U.S. Navy plane is believed to have been monitoring military radio, radar and other signals when it collided with one of two Chinese fighter jets sent to track it.

Defense minister Chi Haotian said the Chinese armed forces and people would not accept U.S. government attempting to evade its responsibility, Xinhua reported.

China stands by its claim the U.S. plane veered into the F-8 jet intercepting it over the South China Sea, an area considered Chinese territory by Beijing but not by Washington.

While Beijing and Washington agree the collision took place in international airspace about 85 kilometers (50 miles) outside China's territorial waters, China also claims an exclusive economic zone that extends 370 kilometers (230 miles) out to sea.

In its defense the U.S. says the Chinese pilot flew too close to the Navy aircraft, causing what U.S. officials are calling an "accident."

The Associated Press & Reuters contributed to this report.

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