"Sorrow" is Not an "Apology" 24 American Lives Less Important to Jiang than Chinese "Air Space" April 12, 2001 By: Mary Mostert ( http://www.bannerofliberty.com/ ) While everyone is happy that the crew of our EP3 surveillance plane are returning home, there is a huge debate going on about whether or not the Bush Administration "apologized" as demanded by China. Alan Colmes on Fox News said last night that the words in the letter from U.S. Amabassador Joseph W. Prueher were an "apology" because it said: On behalf of the United States Government, I now outline steps to resolve this issue. Both President Bush and Secretary of State Powell have expressed their sincere regret over your missing pilot and aircraft. Please convey to the Chinese people and to the family of pilot Wang Wei that we are very sorry for their loss. Although the full picture of what transpired is still unclear, according to our information, our severely crippled aircraft made an emergency landing after following international emergency procedures. We are very sorry that the entering of China's airspace and the landing did not have verbal clearance, but very pleased that the crew landed safely. We appreciate China's efforts to see to the well-being of our crew. Alan Colmes certainly has the support of Beijing's China Daily, which headlined announced: "While receiving a letter from US Ambassador Joseph Prueher about the incident whereby a US military reconnaissance plane rammed into and destroyed a Chinese military aircraft, handed over to Chinese Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan on behalf of the US Government yesterday afternoon, Tang pointed out that the US side must take full responsibility for the incident, provide convincing explanations to the Chinese people, stop its reconnaissance activities above the Chinese coast and take measures to prevent the recurrence of such incidents." Only, of course, the letter from Ambassador Prueher did not say what the China Daily, or Alan Colmes, are trying to claim it said. There was no "apology." There was sorrow that the Chinese apparently preferred the Americans to die by crashing into the sea, rather than allowing the EP3 to enter China airspace. And, there was no mention of "a US military reconnaissance plane" ramming into and destroying a "Chinese military aircraft" and, of course, the China Daily did not print a copy of Prueher's letter. It should be obvious to all at this point that the Chinese government is trying to force the United States to do something. Think, for a moment, of the 24 young Americans on that EP3 over International Waters who were saved from almost a sure death by the remarkable skill of the pilot who managed to pull the plane out of an 8000 foot dive after the collision. What Jiang demanded was an "apology" for the crippled plane landing "without verbal clearance" on Chinese territory, in spite of the fact that it was broadcasting a may-day distress signal in accordance with International Nautical rules. Wisely, the Bush-Powell response to Jiang was wording which, in effect, said we were sorry that the Chinese were the kind of people who would refuse to respond to an appeal for help for 24 people headed into a watery grave. The Chinese hot-dog fighter pilot who crashed was flying a plane with a speed in excess of 1400 miles an hour. The American plane's top speed was 340 miles an hour. It was the fighter pilot's responsibility to stay out of the airspace of the slower plane. However, the rules of the game notwithstanding, what the Chinese are saying here very clearly is that while America should "apologize" for the hot-dog pilot flying too close to its plane, no apology is necessary for the fighter pilot almost killing 24 Americans. What we have seen so far in this incident is incredible arrogance on the part of the Chinese who obviously see nothing wrong in their own behavior in denying verbal clearance for the crippled EP3 to land. This is not the way a friend treats another friend. What China has said in this episode is, "We are NOT your friend. While you Americans may help us Chinese in case of earthquakes or famines, we will not even permit an American aircraft to land on our soil. They should have crashed into the sea. We can't be bothered with saving American lives." The Chinese, according to Rep. Loretta Sanchez who is in Beijing at this point, are upset because America didn't show enough concern over the death of the Chinese pilot. We are supposed to be devastated by the death of their hot-shot pilot while apologizing for 24 young Americans landing on Chinese territory rather than crashing into the sea and dying? Is there something a bit lopsided about this? We are told that 50% of the goods sold in Walmart stores come from China. And, of course, Walmart is not the only store buying most of its goods from China. We have an $80 billion annual trade deficit with China. It is the American trade, combined by the Clinton policy of allowing our military to decline, that has allowed China to rapidly build up its military to the point they feel prepared to challenge the American presence in international waters in the South China Sea. We did this once before in Asia. We sold a lot of scrap iron to Japan in the 1930s which they made into bombs. There are still World War II veterans alive with American iron reformed into Japanese shrapnel still in their body. Next week a meeting between representatives of both China and the United States will meet "to discuss the incident" according to Ambassador Prueher. The meeting agenda would include "discussion of the causes of the incident, possible recommendations whereby such collisions could be avoided in the future, development of a plan for prompt return of the EP-3 aircraft, and other related issues. We acknowledge your government's intention to raise U.S. reconnaissance missions near China in the meeting." They don't want our reconnaissance missions near China, yet they now control both ends of the Panama Canal and certainly plan to continue sending their ships through the Canal built by Americans and American money. China did not get an apology, which is what they demanded. The Chinese government and government owned newspaper flat out lied to the Chinese public to explain why they released the EP3 crew. Now they plan to "raise U.S. reconnaissance mission near China" at the meeting. As I said in the beginning of this incident, this is about Taiwan. Jiang had hoped to stare down the new Bush team. He failed, but he's not planning to give up. US-China relations today are not what most American thought they were two weeks ago. What happens next will depend a lot on how willing Americans are to continue to buy Chinese goods as enthusiastically as they have done in the past. The rest of the world believes all we care about are material goods. I hope they aren't right about that. To comment: mmostert@bannerofliberity.com