President Bush has called on China to release the 24 crew members of an American spy plane which collided with a Chinese fighter jet at the weekend. Mr Bush warned that the incident had the potential to undermine the relationship between the US and China.
He also confirmed that the 21 men and three women crew of the surveillance plane that landed on Hainan Island on Sunday were in good health, uninjured and had not been mistreated. Mr Bush was addressing reporters after the US defence attaché in China, Neal Sealock, met with the crew which had been held incommunicado for three days.
China has demanded that Washington accepts responsibility for the incident and halts surveillance flights close to China's coast. US officials have rejected this demand. A senior official said that the incident took place in international airspace and no apology was necessary.
