US President, George W Bush, has expressed "regret" that a Chinese pilot was still missing after his jet fighter collided with a US spy aircraft off China's coast five days ago. Beijing has already welcomed US statements of regret over the collision but has demanded a full apology. The Chinese authorities are still holding the 24 crew of the spy plane four days after it made an emergency landing on the southern island of Hainan.
The US Secretary of State, Colin Powell, last night said that he regretted the loss of the Chinese pilot. China said that the expression of regret was a positive step towards ending the diplomatic stand-off, but a foreign ministry spokesman said that the statement was not enough to free the plane and its crew. On American television, China's Ambassador to the United States insisted that a full apology was still needed to resolve the crisis, but he did not elaborate. He denied that the crew were being held as prisoners. The Chinese fighter pilot is missing, presumed dead.
Despite the tension, the US ambassador to China, Admiral Joseph Prueher, has expressed optimism that a resolution can be found to the continuing stand-off. Admiral Prueher told reporters that things were "looking good" as he drove into the American embassy in Beijing. A former US Secretary of State, Dr Henry Kissinger, said that the Bush administration was taking the right approach to the problem.
There is not much evidence that the Chinese public is taking this crisis too seriously. A lone protestor outside the US embassy in Beijing was quickly moved on by the police. While the US has spoken of a "evolution" in the row, China is still holding out for what it describes as a more "co-operative" approach by the Americans.
