CHINA - BBC: Bush warns China over spy plane

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Tuesday, 3 April, 2001, 23:52 GMT 00:52 UK

Bush warns China over spy plane

The aircraft has been parked on the island of Hainan US President George W Bush has warned China

not to undermine fruitful and productive bilateral relations by failing to return a grounded US spy plane and its 24 crew members.

Speaking to journalists at the White House, Mr Bush said that the US approach was to prevent an accident from becoming an international incident.

"We have allowed the Chinese Government to do the right thing," he said.

"But now it is time for our servicemen and women to return home and it is time for the Chinese Government to return our plane."

The White House disclosed severe damage to the nose cone and two engines of the spy plane - it dropped several thousand feet after its collision with a Chinese fighter before pilots regained control.

The spy plane was forced to land on the southern Chinese island of Hainan after the collision last Sunday.

Satellites reportedly showed the plane under tarpaulin, with presumably intense Chinese scrutiny of its secret equipment going on underneath.

Mr Bush said he had spoken to a US envoy, who was allowed to visit the crew at Hainan Tuesday.

The envoy told Mr Bush that the servicemen and women were in good health and had not been mistreated.

The incident comes at a time of high tension between Washington and Beijing, not long after a US defence review identified China as the number-one threat to the US.

'High spirits'

After preliminary negotiations with Chinese officials, the envoy, Defence Attache Neal Sealock, was driven with a police escort to meet the crew at an unspecified location.

He said that the crew had been taken care of and were in high spirits.

In Washington, a Pentagon spokesman said the Department of Defence did not know if the crew had managed to destroy sensitive onboard equipment before the plane was forced to land.

The aircraft is currently being held near Lingshui on the southern island of Hainan, and is packed with top-secret monitoring equipment.

Tense relations

Relations between Washington and Beijing have been tense since Mr Bush took office in January.

China has been upset by US plans to build a national missile defence system and US arms sales to Taiwan.

And BBC Beijing correspondent Duncan Hewitt says that Mr Bush has complicated the issue by putting direct pressure on the Chinese leadership to return the plane and its crew.

The White House has insisted that there can be no apology for the incident.

But Chinese President Jiang Zemin cannot be seen to be soft on America, the correspondent says.

He now risks looking weak if he gives in and risks damaging relations with the US if he does not.

Possible search

The US Ambassador to China, Admiral Joseph Prueher, said earlier that he believes that the Chinese have searched the plane.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhu Bangzao said on Tuesday: "Based on Chinese law, and international practice, we have the right to conduct an investigation."

Defence Department spokesman Craig Quigley said it was common diplomatic practice not to board state-owned planes without an invitation from the country that owns them.

Analysts say it would be catastrophic for the US if the Chinese gained access to the aircraft's computers and hard disks.

The search for the missing Chinese pilot, who reportedly parachuted from his plane, is continuing.

-- Anonymous, April 03, 2001

Answers

Response to CHINA - BBC: Bish warns China over spy plane

BBC Tuesday, 3 April, 2001, 16:47 GMT 17:47 UK

'Big blow' to US intelligence

By Paul Beaver of Jane's Defence

China's detention of a Lockheed EP-3E Aries II electronic intelligence gathering aircraft could cut the US's lead in electronic warfare by at least a decade if the Chinese have managed to climb aboard.

The minute inspection of the computer systems and antennas aboard will give the Chinese a good idea of the US knowledge base, possible counter-measures and possible counter-counter-measures.

It could also damage the electronic warfare capabilities of Washington's regional allies, Taiwan and Japan.

During its regular flight from Kadena air base on Okinawa to the Chinese coast, the EP-3E updates the "telephone book" of Chinese military signals and communications.

This book has the electronic signature, source, frequency and other discriminating factors of radars, radio systems and micro-wave transmission.

All these are invaluable in times of tension and war.

Destroying equipment

There are standing operating procedures for the US Naval personnel aboard the EP-3E to destroy the most sensitive equipment - erasing hard-drives, breaking CD-ROMs, shredding papers and physically breaking up computers with hammers.

But much can still be learned of the powerful processors and very high speed integrated circuits aboard.

The EP-3E is the jewel in the crown of the US Navy's electronic intelligence gathering capability and the loss of its secrets to a potential unfriendly nation is a grievous loss to the US.

The state-of-the-art processing power is not available to China and could be used in other systems, including ballistic missiles, nuclear weapons and radar tracking.

It could be sold on to other nations, like Russia or Pakistan, rendering US electronic warfare systems more vulnerable to countermeasures and seduction than ever before.

International law

If the Chinese have abided by international law and not gone aboard they will still be able to glean some good information from an inspection of the outside of the aircraft.

They could open inspection hatches and look inside at aerials and antennas.

Measurements, x-rays and other detection systems could be used.

For the US intelligence community, the loss of the EP-3E is a serious event almost unparallelled for four decades - since Gary Power's U-2 was shot down over the Soviet Union.

-- Anonymous, April 03, 2001


Response to CHINA - BBC: Bish warns China over spy plane

Bish?

-- Anonymous, April 03, 2001

Response to CHINA - BBC: Bish warns China over spy plane

Suffering from TK--tiny keyboard. Notebook computer. I have a million excuses.

-- Anonymous, April 03, 2001

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