China voiced strong resentment Saturday at the irresponsible comments of some senior US officials on the April 1 collision incident in which a US spy plane caused the crash of a Chinese fighter jet.
Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Zhang Qiyue said in a statement that the US side, disregarding the facts, continued to "confuse right and wrong and even falsely accuse the Chinese side" in irresponsible comments made successively by high-ranking members of the US administration in the last few days, in an attempt to shirk its responsibility.
The collision incident is a serious one, for which the US side is fully responsible, Zhang said.
"We have enough evidence to prove that it was the US plane that violated flight rules by suddenly veering in a wide angle at the Chinese plane in normal flight, rammed into and damaged it, resulting in the loss of the Chinese pilot," Zhang said.
"After the collision, the US spy plane intruded into China's airspace and landed at a Chinese airport without permission from the Chinese side," she said. "These facts are manifest and we have irrefutable evidence that the US side cannot deny," she added.
The spokeswoman said that the US side should realize that China has allowed the 24 persons aboard the US reconnaissance plane to leave its territory "out of humanitarian considerations".
"This is not the end of the case," she added. "The Chinese government and people demand that the US side bear full responsibility for the incident, give acceptable explanations to the Chinese people, stop sending spy planes on frequent reconnaissance flights close to China's coast and take concrete measures to prevent recurrence of such an incident."
The US side has attempted to exculpate itself by using lame arguments and standing facts on their heads, Zhang said. "This is not conducive to the growth of Sino-US relations nor to the coming negotiations."
Zhang stressed that the Chinese side has been handling the issue with calmness and restraint in accordance with the law, taking the overall situation of Sino-US relations into consideration.
In this incident the Chinese side is the victim while it was the US side that caused the collision, said the spokeswoman.
The US side shall be held fully responsible for all consequences if it sticks to its mistake and cause further damages too Sino-US relations, she concluded.
(People’s Daily 04/14/2001)
