U.S.-China Talks Take Turn for the Better

B E I J I N G, April 19 -- Despite a tense start, talks between the United States and China on the spy plane incident have ended — for the moment — on a positive note.

After a 90-minute meeting in Beijing today, both sides indicated the nature of the talks were productive, but they offered very few details.

"I'll simply say we covered all the items that were on the agenda and I found today's session to be very productive," said Deputy Undersecretary of Defense Peter F. Verga, the chief U.S. negotiator.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry described the talks as frank and useful for both sides. "The sides have agreed to keep in touch, and future talks will be held at a time and place to be determined through diplomatic channels," Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Zhang Qiyue said.

The negotiations began with a tense start Wednesday after China refused to discuss the return of the $80 million EP-3 Aries II that has been on Chinese soil since it collided with a Chinese fighter jet and was landed on Hainan island April 1.

The impasse was broken after U.S. Ambassador to Beijing Joseph Prueher visited the Chinese Foreign Ministry to lodge American concerns about China's failure to discuss the return of the spy plane and threatened to break off negotiations.

China then changed its mind, U.S. officials said, and a second day of talks got underway.

But it was not clear what progress was made.

The Blame Game

Relations between China and the United States have been tense since the collision. The 24-member crew of the spy plane was detained in China for 11 days before being released.

However, China's failure to release the EP-3E Aries II thas added to the tension in the current round of talks.

In Washington, some experts believed there were still a number of issues to be resolved between China and the United States. "I do not think these talks went well," Kurt Campbell, a former official in the Clinton administration, said on ABCNEWS' Good Morning America today.