Indeed, some credible reports suggest Chinese fighter planes fired machine guns at our crew after the collision - an explicit act of war. This fire turned our plane back from Vietnamese airspace, forcing a landing on their island. We may perhaps learn more about what actually happened in the coming days and weeks. Politically, China was entirely in the wrong in this current situation. It is business as usual for any nation to fly spy planes in international airspace.
Every nation understands that.
Few people realize we were flying 60 miles offshore. No one in China knows that, thanks to government censorship - nor do they know we spent days trying to rescue their pilot. The implication left with the Chinese public is that we were flying over Chinese soil. Much depends on whether the Chinese military evaluates Bush's cautious firmness as strength or weakness. The recent public statements by Singapore's former prime minister that encourage the U.S. to take a tougher stand towards China, breaking the frightened silence in Asia, is a healthy sign.