Spy Plane Crew to Be Released

April 11, 2001 -- After a tense 11-day standoff between the United States and China, the crew of a U.S. spy plane detained in China is set to be released.

China today said the 24 U.S. Navy crew members were being released on "humanitarian grounds."

The release came after U.S. Ambassador to China Joseph Prueher delivered a letter to the Chinese today that said the U.S. government was "very sorry" for entering Chinese airspace to make an emergency landing without permission.

President Bush today said China assured him the release would occur "promptly" and he looked forward to welcoming home the crew members detained on Hainan Island.

"This has been a difficult situation for both our countries," Bush said at a briefing. "I know the American people join me in expressing sorrow for the loss of life of a Chinese pilot. Our prayers are with his wife and his child."

The Chinese decision to release the U.S. crew came after more than a week of wrangling between diplomats on both sides that resulted in a carefully worded letter, which gave room for both sides to claim victory after an 11-day diplomatic standoff.

But a White House official told ABCNEWS the wording of the letter delivered by Prueher today was the same as the one delivered to the Chinese Foreign Ministry in Beijing two days ago.

A chartered Continental Airlines Boeing 737 has arrived at the Mailan airport in Hainan from Guam to collect the crew.

There were reports the jet would return to Guam with the crew, where they would be transferred to a military jet to carry them on to Hawaii. They are expected to stay in Hawaii for two or three days for medical and psychiatric checks as well as intelligence debriefings.

ABCNEWS has learned the intelligence debriefings will begin on board the Boeing 737 since it is advisable to start the debriefings early as well as to cut down the debriefing time in Hawaii and enable the crew to get to their families sooner.

They are expected to reach Hawaii early Thursday, after which they would return to their main base at the Whidbey Island Naval Air Station in Washington state.

Working Out the Details

Confirming the release in Washington today, White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said China and the United States were working out details for the release of the crew and the crippled EP-3E Aries II, a highly sophisticated surveillance aircraft that is currently grounded at the Lingshui air base on Hainan.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Sun Yuxi today said China would first conduct an investigation of the incident. "The Chinese side has all rights to conduct a comprehensive investigation into the foreign reconnaissance plane," he said. "We will handle the plane according to the results of the investigation."

The 24 crew members are set to come home, 11 days after they landed on Hainan Island after colliding with a Chinese fighter jet which Pentagon sources say had repeatedly "buzzed" the U.S. plane. The American aircraft was damaged in the collision.

The Chinese pilot of the F-8 that collided with the EP-3E Aries II is missing, presumed dead.

A formal announcement came in simultaneous 7 a.m. ET briefings in Beijing and Hainan.

Speaking in Hainan today, Brig. Gen. Neal Sealock, the military attaché to the U.S. Embassy in Beijing, said he had not met with the 24 crew members today and had no timetable for the release. But he did say the crew would be given cell phones to call their families as soon as possible.

The details of the release of the U.S. reconnaissance plane are expected to be worked out at a meeting between the two sides which has been scheduled for April 18, according to Prueher's letter.

The agenda for the meeting would include the causes of the incident, possible recommendations to avoid such incidents in the future as well as the development of a plan for the prompt return of the aircraft, the letter said.

But some U.S. officials consider the EP-3E Aries II to be junk as the Chinese are believed to have unloaded sensitive equipment from the plane. However, they believe the United States would nevertheless like to have the aircraft back as a matter of principle.

Lost in Translation

Although China's decision to release the crew came after a linguistic compromise was arrived at by both sides, both sides have different takes on the translation of the letter.

Chinese news agency Xinhua today reported that Sun said the letter expressed "deep regret," or shenbiao qianyi, but Chinese translation of the letter used the term feichang wanxi or "extreme sympathy" to the family of the missing pilot.

Former Department of Defense official Kurt Campbell said that although the letter did not amount to a full apology, the Chinese media was expected to use the wiggle room provided by the wording of the letter to serve their interests and save face before the Chinese people.

"What the Chinese will focus on in public is the effort that the United States has put into this, the numerous back and forth and all the things that have gone on behind the scenes that suggests that the United States is really trying to reach out to China," he said.

The Chinese media today hailed the government's handling of the diplomatic standoff. According to the official Xinhua news agency, an editorial in the Communist Party newspaper People's Daily praised Chinese leaders for bringing an end to the impasse.

"The firm struggle by the Chinese government and people against U.S. hegemony has forced the U.S. government to change from its initial rude and unreasonable attitude to saying 'very sorry' to the Chinese people," the editorial reads.

While the Bush administration appeared satisfied with the outcome of the standoff, some experts wondered if U. S. officials made any compromises regarding arms sales to China or modifications of surveillance flights.

But a senior U.S. defense official told ABCNEWS the United States had no intention of stopping reconnaissance flights near China, which would resume in the weeks ahead. The United States would, however, give China a chance to complain about the flights in upcoming talks on April 18, he added.

The Chinese are bitterly opposed to U.S. reconnaissance flights, even in international airspace.

ABCNEWS' Barbara Starr, Terry Moran and Martha Raddatz in Washington and David Wright in Haikou contributed to this report.