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American Morning

U.S./China Relations: No Agreement Yet Reached on Return of Surveillance Plane

Aired May 24, 2001 - 11:32   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.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Where do things stand in the United States' efforts to retrieve the U.S. Navy spy plane from the Chinese?

Our military affairs correspondent Jamie McIntyre is at Pentagon with latest on that -- Jamie, good morning.

JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN MILITARY AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Daryn.

Well, the Chinese government says that it has accepted the United States' proposal to dismantle the EP-3 surveillance plane and ship it back to the United States. But the Pentagon and the U.S. government says not so fast; no agreement has yet been reached on exactly how that plane would be shipped back to the United States.

There seems to be an agreement in principle that China will return the plane. And there seems to be a proposal on the table to dismantle the plane, to some extent. But that seems to be where the agreement ends -- the United States apparently favoring a plan to simply remove the wings from the plane and then transfer it to a larger -- or a transport plane, either U.S. military or perhaps a rented play.

China wants to see it taken out in pieces and shipped back -- Daryn.

KAGAN: Jamie McIntyre at the Pentagon, thank you.

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