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Breaking News

China to Hold Press Conferences

Aired April 11, 2001 - 05:32   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JASON CARROLL, CNN ANCHOR: There are signs from China today that a deal could be in the works to end the standoff with the United States over that stranded Navy spy plane and its crew.

LINDA STOUFFER, CNN ANCHOR: And topping the news in Chinese state-run media this morning is the Bush administration's weekend expressions of regret for the spy plane collision. This is the first time news of those comments has appeared in Chinese media.

CNN Beijing bureau chief Rebecca MacKinnon told us earlier this morning that that move may mean the standoff will end sooner, rather than later.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

REBECCA MACKINNON, CNN BEIJING BUREAU CHIEF: In the Chinese media, it appears that there are some signals being sent: This headline here says, Powell opens his mouth and says sorry. They quote him as saying, on a Sunday morning talk show in the United States, that he is sorry that the U.S. plane violated Chinese airspace.

Now, what he actually said on U.S. television was a little more complicated. He had said that there was an emergency situation, and the crew had little choice, but it did violate Chinese airspace and that he was sorry for that.

But the fact that the Chinese media is reporting the word "sorry" coming from an U.S. official so prominently is viewed here by observers as an indication that the Chinese authorities are trying to prepare Chinese public opinion for the likelihood that there will be a deal.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

STOUFFER: We're following some breaking news right now here at CNN Center regarding the standoff between the United States and China.

What we want to do right now is take you live to Beijing -- that's where CNN's Rebecca MacKinnon is standing by.

Rebecca, what do you have? MACKINNON: Hello -- we have just learned from the Chinese Foreign Ministry that the Foreign Ministry will hold a press conference at 7:00 p.m. local time. That is approximately 1 1/2 hours from now. They are not commenting further on the content of the press conference.

The U.S. Embassy refuses to comment at all on this announcement. However, the U.S. ambassador to China, Joseph Prueher, has left the U.S. Embassy for the Foreign Ministry.

So we have no confirmation from either government as to what exactly is happening, what exactly is going to be announced, but it appears that there is clearly some movement on the diplomatic front that the Chinese government is planning to announce.

We also do know that the Foreign Affairs office in Hainan Island, where the 24 crew members are being held, plans to hold a press conference simultaneously. So clearly, there is some movement diplomatically on the situation with the 24 crew members, and it will be announced in approximately 1 1/2 hours.

Back to you.

CARROLL: Rebecca, I know it's hard to tell at this point, but this simply must be some sort of an encouraging sign, to say the least.

MACKINNON: Yes, it does appear to be a sign that there is movement. Again, there's no confirmation. It doesn't necessarily mean that release would be immediate. But clearly, after many days of being tight lipped, after many days of ambiguous statements from the Chinese Foreign Ministry, the fact that a press conference is being called at such short notice is extremely unusual in this country. So we can only expect that there is unusual news for them to report.

STOUFFER: Rebecca MacKinnon, in Beijing, I know you have to get to that press conference, so we'll let you go. But thank you very much for that development.

Again, we're hearing that there will be a press conference in just about 1 1/2 hours, 7:00 a.m. Eastern time. We, of course, will be bringing you all the latest from that as it develops.

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