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WhilereceivingaletterthatUSAmbassadorJosephPrueher,
therepresentativeplenipotentiaryoftheUSGovernmentforhan
dlingtheincidentofaUSmilitaryreconnaissanceplaneramming
sintosanddestroyingaChinesemilitaryaircraft,handedovert
oMinisterTangonbehalfoftheUSGovernmentthisafternoon,Chi
na'sForeignMinisterTangJiaxuanpointedoutthattheUSsidemu
sttakefullresponsibilityfortheincident,provideconvincin
gexplanationstotheChinesepeople,stopitsreconnaissanceac
tivitiesabovetheC hinesecoastandtakemeasurestostoptherec
urrenceofsuchincidents.
AmbassadorPruehersaidintheletterthatbothPresidentBu
shandSecretaryofStatePowellhaveexpressedtheirsincerereg
retoverChina'smissingpilotandaircraft.Hesaidonbehalfoft
heUSGovernmentthattheywereverysorrytotheChinesepeoplean
dthefamilyofpilotWangWeiandthattheywereverysorryfortheU
SplaneenteringChina'sairspaceandlandingwithoutaverbalcl
earance.TheUSsidealsoexpresseditsappreciationofChina'se
ffortstoseetothewell-beingoftheAmericancrew.
MinisterTangpointedoutthatitisaseriousincidentthatt
heUSmilitaryreconnaissanceplanerammedsintosanddestroyed
aChinesemilitaryplaneonthemorningof1ApriloffthecoastofC
hina'sHainanProvince,leadingtothemissingoftheChinesepil
ot,andenteredChina'sairspaceandlandedattheChineseairfie
ldwithoutpermission.ThesaidUSplaneintrudedsintosChina's
territorialairspaceandencroacheduponChina'ssovereigntyi
nviolationofinternationallawandtheprovisionsofrelevantl
awsofChinaaswellastheconsensusthatChinaandtheUSreachedl
astMayonavoidingdangerousmaritimemilitaryactivities.Its
acthasthusconstitutedathreattoChina'snationalsecurity.T
heUSsidemusttakefullresponsibilityfortheincident.Itisen
tirelyreasonableandlegitimatefortheChinesesidetoaskfora
napologytotheChinesepeoplefromtheUSside.
MinisterTangemphasizedthateversincetheUSmilitaryrec
onnaissanceplanerammedsintosanddestroyedaChinesemilitar
yplane,theChinesesidehasallalonghandledthisincidentwith
calmnessandrestraintandinaccordancewithinternationallaw
andtheprovisionsofrelevantlawsofChina.Thecompetentdepar
tmentsinChinahave,outofhumanitarianconsiderations,treat
edthe24crewmembersoftheUSreconnaissanceplanewellandarra
ngedfortheirmeetingswithUSdiplomaticandconsularofficers
.HesaidhenotedthattheUSsideexpressedintheletteritsappre
ciationtotheChinesesideforallthis.HetoldAmbassadorPrueh
erthattheChinesesideunderstandstheAmericanpeopleandthef
amiliesofthecrewareeagerlylookingforwardtoanearlyreturn
ofthecrewandareunionwiththem.AstheUSGovernmenthasalread
ysaid"verysorry"totheChinesepeople,theChineseGovernment
has,outofhumanitarianconsiderations,decidedtoallowthecr
ewmemberstoleaveChinaaftercompletingthenecessaryprocedu
res.
Healsopointedoutthatthisisnottheconclusionofthecase
involvingtheUSmilitaryplanerammingsintosaChineseaircraf
t,causingthemissingoftheChinesepilot,enteringtheChinese
airspaceandlandingataChineseairfieldwithoutpermission.T
hetwosideswillcontinuewiththenegotiationsonthematterand
otherrelatedissues.TheChineseGovernmentandpeopledemandt
hattheUSsideprovideconvincingexplanationstotheChinesepe
opleonthisincident,stopsendingaircrafttothevicinityofth
eChinesecoastforreconnaissanceactivitiesandtakeeffectiv
emeasurestoaverttherecurrenceofsimilarincidents.TheUSsi
demustunderstandfullytheseriousnessoftheincident,takese
riouslythesolemnpositionoftheChinesesideandproperlyhand
lethisincident.Itmustnotmakeanerroneousjudgmentandfurth
erdamagethebilateralrelations.
MinisterTangfinallystressedthatChina'ssovereigninde
pendence,territorialintegrityandnationaldignitybrooknoi
nfringement.ItisChina'sconsistentpositionthatstate-to-s
taterelations,includingChina-USrelations,mustbebasedons
uchbasicnormsgoverninginternationalrelationsasmutualres
pectforsovereigntyandterritorialintegrity,mutualnon-agg
ressionandnon-interferenceineachother'sinternalaffairs.
TheChinesesideattachesimportancetoChina-USrelations.Tod
evelopfriendlyrelationsandcooperationbetweenChinaandthe
USservestheinterestsofbothcountriesandtheworldatlarge.I
tishopedthattheUSwillstrictlyabidebythethreeChina-USJoi
ntCommuniquesandthebasicnormsgoverninginternationalrela
tionsandwillrefrainfromdoinganythingmoretoimpairthebila
teralrelations.TheUSshouldtakeaconstructiveattitudeandw
orkwiththeChinesesidetobringthebilateralrelationsontoth
etrackofnormaldevelopment.
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