CHINA - Pentagon U-turn on China ties

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BBC Thursday, 3 May, 2001, 01:21 GMT 02:21 UK

Pentagon U-turn on China ties

China has refused to return the plane The United States has retracted the announcement of an immediate suspension of all military contacts with China, saying it was caused by a misunderstanding.

Pentagon spokesman Rear Admiral Craig Quigley said a memorandum ordering the suspension - and released to the media two hours earlier - was written by an aide who had misinterpreted the intentions of Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.

The spokesman said that Mr Rumsfeld had called for all proposed contacts and activities with the Chinese military to be reviewed and approved by the Pentagon on case-by-case basis, not suspended.

The BBC's Nick Bryant in Washington says the retraction is an embarrassment to the US, which is hoping that China will return an American spy plane grounded on Hainan Island since 1 April.

Before the retraction, there was much speculation that the suspension of military contacts was largely a response to Beijing's refusal to return the spy plane.

Rear Admiral Quigley told the BBC that China had never been informed of the suspension, which was ordered in a memorandum issued on Monday.

He said he did not know if Beijing would be contacted to explain the misunderstanding.

The suspension would have affected contacts like port visits by warships and visits by military officials. These will now be reviewed on an individual basis.

The latest confusion over Sino-American relations comes at a time when US civil technicians have been examining the spy plane - which made an emergency landing on Chinese territory following a mid-air collision with a Chinese fighter jet - after China gave permission for such a move last Sunday.

The spy plane incident led to a tense stand off between Washington and Beijing, as the Chinese authorities held the 24-member American crew for 11 days, demanding that the US take the blame for the accident.

China has not yet given permission for the aircraft to be moved.

Relations between the two countries have come under increasing strain since President George W Bush was inaugurated in January.

Beijing has vehemently opposed a new US arms package for Taiwan and condemned Mr Bush's plans for a new missile defence system

-- Anonymous, May 03, 2001


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