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CNN Live Saturday

Meeting Next Week Will Set Course for U.S.-China Relations

Aired April 14, 2001 - 15:08   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.
DONNA KELLEY, CNN ANCHOR: Next week's meeting between the United States and China over the surveillance plane incident could set the tone for future relations. CNN's Kelly Wallace has a preview from Crawford, Texas, where President Bush is spending the Easter holiday weekend. Hello, Kelly.

KELLY WALLACE, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, hello there, Donna. Good afternoon from another windy day here in Crawford, Texas. And just as you said, many observers and senior administration officials definitely believe what happens in this meeting between Beijing and Washington definitely could set the tone for the relationship between the two countries.

Now, ever since the 24 crew members returned back to the United States, we have seen President Bush and his top advisers take a much tougher stand against China. The last time we saw Mr. Bush was Thursday when he arrived here in Texas. He is spending the weekend with his family at his ranch nearby, deciding not travel to Washington state for the crew's upcoming homecoming ceremony because, aides say, he did not want to intrude on that moment.

Still earlier today, in his weekly radio address, he said he was thinking about the crew members, and he offered them this salute.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Our thoughts are also with the men and women of our military, deployed around the world and away from their families. They have our sincere gratitude. And on this holiday, we offer the thanks of our nation to the 24 servicemen and women who are no longer in China, and our are now home.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WALLACE: Meantime, the Pentagon yesterday released this videotape, shot by a U.S. crew back on January 24th, which Defense Department officials say -- I guess we don't have that tape, sorry about that. But this videotape, Defense Department officials say, shows that Chinese pilots have been using some very aggressive tactics against American surveillance planes.

Yesterday Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld made it very clear that he and the rest of the administration believe that the Chinese pilot Wang Wei was responsible for that April 1st collision. And as Rebecca MacKinnon noting, the Chinese have responded today saying that the senior administration officials are making irresponsible statements.

So Donna, clearly likely to be a very contentious meeting going into Wednesday, and exactly what happens could say a lot about the next steps for the United States and China this their relationship. Back to you.

KELLEY: All right, Kelly Wallace, thanks.

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