Although there are still bumps in the road, trade and WTO talks should not be affected. China continues to demand an apology, but the U.S. is unlikely to concede. Unless President Bush produces the apology his Chinese counterpart demands, their diplomats could be in for a long haul. China's demands for an American apology come from a culture that goes to great lengths to avoid such admissions of guilt. A group of doctors who came to China on the first direct United Airlines flight from Chicago to Beijing stayed busy at Chinese hospitals for most of their week here and reported productive medical exchanges.
Business is business, and politics is politics.
However, a government delegation has decided to change its plans. Although China is still blaming the U.S. for the April 1 plane collision and is waiting for a full apology, U.S. officials report progress in talks as diplomats gain renewed access to the crew. A newly introduced bill in the U.S. calls for lawmakers to revoke China's trade status as the two countries continue to wrangle over the latest thorn in relations. The United States and China may be at loggerheads right now, but U.S. businesses in China say the incident with a U.S. surveillance plane won't influence their business plans. Three top Chinese officials say the U.S. must apologize for Sunday's plane collision.