Sunday April 15 1:17 PM ET na Senators: U.S. Shouldn't Retaliate Against China

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States should not retaliate against China over its handling of the spy plane showdown by changing its trade status or selling arms to Taiwan, several Senate Democrats and Republicans said on Sunday.

``Unless the Chinese really complicate things in some way -- which they might do -- I'm not sure that it's in the best interests of this country to start cutting off trade relationships with China,'' Nebraska Republican Sen. Chuck Hagel (news - bio - voting record) said on CBS' ``Face the Nation.''

``So I would right now vote to maintain favored nation status.''

Dozens of lawmakers have backed a House of Representatives measure to revoke the decision by Congress seven months ago to grant permanent normal trade relations, or PNTR (news - web sites), to China.

The House acted in response to China's 11-day detention of 24 Americans whose spy plane made an emergency landing on Hainan Island April 1 after being involved in a collision with a Chinese fighter jet.

The Chinese still have the U.S. EP-3 spy plane and a bilateral Maritime Commission meeting Wednesday will focus on U.S. demands for its return.

Rep. Henry Hyde (news - bio - voting record), an Illinois Republican and chairman of the House International Relations Committee, said the United States should demand the prompt return of the plane.

``That is our property and must be returned,'' Hyde said on NBC's ``Meet the Press.'' Hyde said, ``It is not a trophy for them to confiscate.''

Hyde said if the Chinese kept the plane until June, when Congress is to vote on PNTR, it could cost them.

Sen. Tim Hutchinson (news - bio - voting record), an Arkansas Republican, opposes permanent normal trade relations. But he said on ``Fox News Sunday'' he did not think the Senate is ``contemplating at all removing that, even under these circumstances.''

Hutchinson and Sen. Bob Graham (news - bio - voting record), a Florida Democrat, said on the Fox program the United States should not make the return of the plane a precondition for future talks.

The favored trade status -- which allows Chinese exports in at the same low tariffs as goods from most countries -- was contingent on China becoming a member of the World Trade Organization (news - web sites). Since that has not happened yet, President Bush (news - web sites) will be forced in June to seek a one-year extension that Congress must approve.

The United States was China's second-biggest trading partner last year, with almost $75 billion in bilateral trade.

Virginia Republican Sen. George Allen (news - bio - voting record) said on NBC: ``I think we still want to try to have fair trade with China.''

But Sen. Robert Torricelli (news - bio - voting record), a New Jersey Democrat, also on ''Meet the Press,'' said he would opposed PNTR and he urged President Bush to consider canceling his trip to China in October.

Most senators interviewed on Sunday morning talk shows agreed the spy plane dispute had damaged U.S.-China relations but not necessarily permanently.

They said the United States should focus on its own interests -- not retaliation -- in future policy decisions on China, including the sale of sophisticated Aegis-equipped destroyers to Taiwan, which China considers a renegade province.

``We should only sell that system if we think that is needed by Taiwan and in our interest,'' Democratic Senator Joseph Biden of Delaware said on the CBS program. ``We shouldn't sell that system to teach mainland China a lesson.''

-- Anonymous, April 15, 2001