China defies US on spy plane
The US claims the plane is sovereign territory
China has rejected US warnings to stay away from its grounded spy plane, saying officials have the right to inspect it.
The hardening of Beijing's stance over the plane came after Chinese President Jiang Zemin said the United States must "bear full responsibility" for the collision on Sunday between a Chinese fighter jet and the spy plane.
American diplomats are anxiously awaiting access to the 24 stranded crew of the US Navy surveillance plane which made an emergency landing on China's southern island of Hainan following the clash.
China has accused the US plane of ramming its aircraft, but the US says it was probably an accident caused by the Chinese plane.
US concern
According to US officials, the last message from the crew said Chinese soldiers were boarding the EP-3 plane, which is packed with sensitive monitoring equipment.
US President George W Bush has called on China to release the plane "without further tampering".
But Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhu Bangzao said on Tuesday: "Based on Chinese law, and international practice, we have the right to conduct an investigation."
Mocking the American claim that the plane is protected by international law from outside inspection without US permission, Mr Zhu smiled and said: "If this plane is sovereign American territory, how did it land in China?"
Defence analyst Paul Beaver of the Jane's Information Group said it would be catastrophic for the US "if the Chinese have managed to gain access to the aircraft and if they've managed to obtain access to the computers and the hard disks".
China has offered to let American officials meet the crew on Tuesday night local time, but Washington says that is not soon enough.
Mr Bush said he was "troubled by the lack of a timely Chinese response" to US requests for access.
Strained relations
Two US military attaches and a consular official are still stuck at a hotel in Sanya, a seaside resort near the Lingshui base where the plane landed.
The dispute - a major foreign policy test for the new US administration - has further strained relations between Washington and Beijing.
Ties have already been soured by a possible sale of US arms to Taiwan and other contentious issues.
Chinese officials have told Washington that the crew are all safe.
The search for the missing Chinese pilot, who reportedly parachuted from his plane, is continuing.
There have been angry denunciations of US policy on Chinese internet bulletin boards, with comparisons made to Nato's bombing of the Chinese embassy in Belgrade during the 1999 Kosovo conflict.
Meanwhile, concern is growing among relatives of the spy plane's crew.
Staff at Whidbey Island Naval Air Station in Washington state where the crew is based tied yellow ribbons in honour of the crew members.
Tom Crandall, whose son Jeremy is among those detained, said: "I'm a nervous wreck. I'm quivering. My knees are shaking.
"What I'm worried about is what are they doing to him now? Are they interrogating him? Are they beating him?"
The US has ordered three of its warships in the South China Sea region to move out of the area after Chinese officials ignored their requests to help with the search for the missing Chinese pilot.
Experts say run-ins between Chinese and US
aircraft are quite common along the Chinese
coast, although it was the first time an aircraft
had made an emergency landing.
-- Anonymous, April 03, 2001