*EPF407 08/09/01
Defense Department Report: U.S. Offers to Reimburse China
(Spokesman declines to disclose amount offered) (380)

The United States has offered to reimburse the Chinese government for some of the services provided to a 24-member U.S. aircrew during the 11 days they were detained at the Lingshui airbase on Hainan island in April, a Pentagon spokesman said August 8.

"We have arrived at what we think is a fair figure for services rendered and assistance in taking care of the aircrew and some of the materials and contracts ... to remove the EP-3 (Navy reconnaissance aircraft)," said Navy Rear Admiral Craig Quigley at a Pentagon briefing.

Quigley said the notification is en route to Beijing through the U.S. embassy, but he would not disclose the amount being offered until after the Chinese government has received the diplomatic message.

"We hope to have that delivered to the Chinese via diplomatic channels, again, through our embassy in Beijing, in the next few days," Quigley said.

He said the figure being offered was arrived at independently of the Chinese. And he said it is based on each element of what the Chinese had felt was appropriate.

"We did not agree with each of those categories nor their dollar figures, so we took an independent look at that," he said. "Where we felt that there was a fair value provided by the Chinese, we tried to provide a fair dollar value to that service."

China had sought $1 million from the United States for costs of housing, feeding and overseeing the aircrew.

A Chinese F-8 fighter jet and a Navy EP-3E reconnaissance aircraft collided over the South China Sea in international airspace April 1. The Chinese fighter pilot was lost at sea and is presumed dead, but the 24-member aircrew landed safely on the Chinese island of Hainan. They were detained by Chinese military authorities at a guest house for 11 days before being released.

The Chinese agreed later to permit the United States to remove the disabled EP-3 aircraft in parts, to be restored to service after maintenance at a Georgia facility.

(The Washington File is a product of the Office of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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