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China Adamant U.S. In The Wrong
BEIJING, April 15 (News Agencies) - China on Sunday refused to back down on its account of a mid-air collision with a U.S. spy plane as the American crew returned home to a hero's welcome and insisted it had nothing to apologize for.
"The responsibility is completely on the U.S. side," said a front-page article in the Chinese government mouthpiece People's Daily.
"The U.S. side neglected the facts and mixed up black and white. This is neither conducive to the development of Sino-American relations nor helpful to the upcoming bilateral negotiations on both sides."
The report came as the 24-member crew of the U.S. Navy EP-3 Aries surveillance plane returned home to Whidbey Island Naval Air Station in Oak Harbor, Washington after 11 days in Chinese detention.
The U.S. administration took a tougher stance against Beijing to coincide with the homecoming, pinning blame on Chinese pilot Wang Wei for causing the mid-air collision.
U.S. Navy Lieutenant Shane Osborn, the pilot of the spy plane, told reporters at Whidbey Island that the crew had done everything by the book and did not need to apologize.
Prior to impact, Wang's aircraft twice came within three to five feet of the U.S. aircraft, and was "making gestures," Osborn said.
Prominent Chinese media Sunday stuck to Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Zhang Qiyue's comments Saturday that placed blame entirely on the U.S. side.
"This incident is not over. The Chinese government and people demand the U.S. side accept full responsibility, give proper explanation for the incident, stop all reconnaissance activities along China's coast and adopt measures to prevent such incidents from happening again," Zhang said.
The Liberation Army Daily, which reflects the opinion of China's powerful military, continued its hardline stance, running an opinion piece which warned similar incidents could occur again unless the U.S. government stops spy missions.
"If U.S. plane[s] does not stop reconnaissance activity along China's coast, it is possible it will cause similar incidents, which will seriously affect the sound and stable development of bilateral relations," the editorial said.
The report also accused Washington of double standards, claiming it did not allow other countries' planes to fly close to its coasts.
"The U.S. reconnaissance plane and its crew members are neither tourists nor invited visitors," the paper said.
"They were causing trouble in front of China's home. Their actions were completely provocative, full of hostility. How could they say it is a routine mission?"
The strongly worded piece, though, was placed on the back page of the newspaper, indicating a unified effort by the government to carefully control reporting in the aftermath of the crew's departure.
The traditionally hardline military paper also recognized the importance of good bilateral relations.
"China is the largest developing country in the world. The U.S. is the largest developed country. ... To keep sound and stable Sino-American relations is conducive to world peace, stability and prosperity," it added.
But not all reports were as harsh with other papers easing attacks against the U.S. and instead focusing on efforts to turn Wang into a hero and rejecting U.S. attempts to blame him for the collision.
Even the nightly news on central state television only carried a brief report about Wang's status as a revolutionary martyr, without launching into anti-American rhetoric.
The official news agency, Xinhua, ran a short, three-paragraph report saying an opinion piece had been published here accusing the U.S. side of breaching international law on the collision, but the report did not say where the piece was published or give details about its author, identified only as Li Qin.
China on Saturday called off the search for Wang and elevated him to the status of a martyr.
The U.S. plane and Chinese fighter jet collided off the coast of the southern Chinese island of Hainan on April 1st, forcing the U.S. plane to make an emergency landing on Chinese soil.
The U.S. crew was released on Thursday after the U.S. side said it was "very sorry" over the presumed death of the Chinese pilot, who crashed into the sea, and over the landing of its plane on Chinese territory without prior verbal permission.
The two sides are scheduled to meet in Beijing Wednesday to discuss the handling of the spy plane which is marooned in China, as well as Beijing's demands that the U.S. end spy missions along its coast.
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