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U.S. Regrets Chinese Pilot's Loss
WASHINGTON, April 4 (News Agencies) - The United States on Wednesday expressed regret for the loss of a Chinese pilot after a collision with a U.S. spy plane, but refused to bend to President Jiang Zemin's demands for a full apology over the incident.
"We regret that the Chinese plane did not get down safely and we regret the loss of the life of that Chinese pilot," Secretary of State Colin Powell told reporters outside the State Department.
"But now we need to move on. We need to bring this to a resolution and we are using every avenue available to us to talk to the Chinese side to exchange explanations and move on."
Amid early signs that both sides might be seeking diplomatic language to move towards a face-saving exit from the four-day drama, China's embassy in Washington immediately welcomed Powell's words, even though they fell short of what Beijing has demanded.
"That is a very important statement of course," embassy press spokesman Zhang Yuanyaun said. "We were watching what the Americans would do."
But while offering regret, U.S. officials made clear they would not budge from their point blank refusal to provide the apology for Sunday's incident demanded by Jiang.
"The United States does not understand the reason for an apology," Fleischer told reporters. "Our airplane was operating in international airspace and the United States did nothing wrong."
Earlier, before leaving Beijing on a trip to Latin America, Jiang said: "the U.S. side should apologize to the Chinese people for the Sunday collision between Chinese and U.S. military planes."
But his words were vague enough to suggest that some kind of gesture from the United States might lead to a slight easing of the row.
"The United States should do something favorable to the smooth development of Sino-U.S. relations, rather than make remarks that confuse right and wrong and are harmful to the relations," Jiang, quoted by the official Xinhua news agency, said.
Jiang also issued orders for missing pilot Wang Wei, who parachuted out of his plane after it collided with the US EP-3 surveillance plane on Sunday, to be found at all cost.
State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said there had been an "evolution" in the row over the downed spy-plane but no "breakthrough."
"I think both sides are saying to each other now that they're looking for a way to resolve the situation," he said.
As efforts continued to end the dispute, China's Washington ambassador Yang Jiechi was later Wednesday due at the State Department for talks with Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage.
The immediate focus of the dispute appeared to shift Wednesday away from the continued detention in China of the 24 crewmembers of the Aries plane to possible routes out of the row.
U.S. President George W. Bush on Tuesday publicly called upon China to release the crew and return the plane, which made an emergency landing on Hainan island after the collision on Sunday.
Fleischer said Wednesday no consideration was being given to halting U.S. surveillance flights in international waters off China.
"International law is very clear and is observed around the world. The United States - as do all nations - has the right to operate over international airspace," he said.
China's ambassador to the U.S. argued in an interview with CNN that China's airspace had been violated, saying that the U.S. EP-3 Aries plane had not asked for permission before making an emergency landing at an airfield on Hainan island.
CNN quoted military sources as saying the crew of the Aries destroyed valuable information and equipment aboard before making the emergency landing.
U.S. officials said on Tuesday it was probable Beijing had ignored Washington's warnings that any attempt to enter the plane would infringe international law.
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