The U.S. surveillance plane landed on Hainan after colliding with a Chinese F-8 fighter jet. The Chinese jet crashed. Its pilot is missing. The Bush administration has called the collision an accident. It insists the plane did not violate law because it was flying in international airspace.
China blames the U.S. plane, saying it suddenly rammed the Chinese jet.
It is demanding an end to American surveillance flights off its coast, which it says threaten its sovereignty. China has also accused the United States of duplicity in taking a harder line since winning the release of the plane's 24 crew members. Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, R-Calif., long a critic of China, blamed former President Clinton for China's position in the negotiations. While American and Chinese negotiators met in Beijing, U.S. officials in Washington were weighing what weapons to sell Taiwan, which China considers a breakaway province that must be reunited with the mainland. The administration has tried to separate the weapons package from the dispute over U.S. spy flights.