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CNN Saturday Morning News

Diplomatic Efforts Continue in China

Aired April 07, 2001 - 08:01   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.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: It's now 8:00 in the evening on China's Hainan Island and U.S. officials are still hoping to meet again with the crew of the U.S. Navy spy plane before the day is out. Both the U.S. and China are navigating some tricky rhetorical shoals as they work toward a solution and our reporters are covering all angles on this story.

We begin with Lisa Rose Weaver on Hainan Island for the latest from there. Lisa is joining us by video phone -- hi, Lisa.

LISA ROSE WEAVER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Kyra.

Yes, it's been a long day here for U.S. diplomats as they have waited for word from Chinese officials on when they could begin what would be the third face to face meeting with the 24 crew members. But that word has not come yet and we're just not sure if it's going to come later tonight or not.

Now, we know from earlier meetings that the crew of 24 are well physically and mentally, according to the head of the delegation, the U.S. defense attache, who reassured us that they do seem in good spirits. Now, earlier today officials went shopping to buy some supplies for them. Over the course of the last few days, they have been able to get things indirectly from Chinese officials to them. The main priority, though, is to push for an early release and it's just really not clear at this point when that's going to happen -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right, Lisa Rose Weaver live from Hainan, China, thanks for the latest -- Brian.

BRIAN NELSON, CNN ANCHOR: We are not going to know the precise terms of any resolution to this matter until it happens, but publicly the Chinese have been clear in their views on the incident. And for more on the mood and the movement in the Chinese capital, let's turn to CNN's Beijing bureau chief Rebecca MacKinnon -- Rebecca, are the Chinese still holding tough for an apology?

(AUDIO GAP)

REBECCA MACKINNON, CNN BEIJING BUREAU CHIEF: ... in fact, just a few hours ago, the state run news agency released the text of a letter from Chinese Vice Premier Qian Qichen written to Secretary of State Colin Powell in response to Powell's letter expressing regret a few days ago. Chen made it very clear to Powell that the statements coming out of the United States to date are not acceptable. He continued on to say, "It is essential for the U.S. side to face up to the facts squarely, adopt a positive and practical approach and apologize to the Chinese people." He made it very clear that in order for movement to continue, for more progress to be made, that that apology needed to happen.

Now, diplomacy does continue here in Beijing, nonetheless, U.S. Ambassador Joseph Prueher going back and forth between the U.S. embassy and the foreign ministry with intense meetings throughout the day. He has indicated to journalists waiting outside the embassy that meetings are continuing, everybody is working hard. He would not characterize the meetings, where, what kind of point they're at at this point. It's really difficult to say, although people here are still optimistic that the meeting between the U.S. diplomats and the U.S. crew members will take place in Hainan today. The final word does, what happens from here, what happens after that meeting will depend on further negotiations going on here in Beijing.

So we have a situation where public statements from Chinese leaders are quite hard-line, but U.S. diplomats indicating that there still is movement. Even though the U.S. has said there will be no apology they still seem optimistic that they're going to be able to move forward on talks -- Brian.

NELSON: All right, thank you, CNN's Rebecca MacKinnon in Beijing -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Well, Brian, without a doubt the Bush administration would like to get this unfortunate episode behind as quickly as possible. But Chinese insistence that the U.S. Navy plane caused the accident and that the U.S. owes China a formal apology present a difficult challenge for President Bush.

CNN's White House correspondent John King joins us now for the latest from 600 Pennsylvania Avenue -- hi, John.

JOHN KING, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you again, Kyra.

Well, this escalating rhetoric from the Chinese side might suggest that there's little progress being made in the diplomatic discussions. Senior Bush administration officials insist that is not the case. They say, indeed, as the two sides try to agree on the language of a joint statement to resolve this stand-off that there is progress being made and that those talks will continue throughout the weekend.

Still, though, President Bush will soon be receiving a letter from the wife of that Chinese fighter pilot who was presumably killed in the collision with the U.S. EP-3 surveillance plane. In that letter, the wife of the pilot demands an apology from the president. She calls him "cowardly" and she also says in that letter, let's read a bit of it, "Mr. President, I have heard that you grew up in a family filled with love and that you value your family and care for all its members. If this is true, I think you must understand what it means when an old couple loses their only son, when a tender child loses his dear father and when a young wife loses her husband."

Now, that, again, part of the Chinese effort to get an apology from the United States. But as we have seen from the president and other senior administration officials in recent days, they are staying outright that they will not apology, their rhetoric stopping quite short of that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I regret that a Chinese pilot is missing and I regret one of their airplanes is lost and our prayers go out to the pilot and his family. Our prayers are also with our own servicemen and women and they need to come home.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: Now, U.S. officials had been hoping those statements of regret, not only from the president but from others in the administration, would soften the Chinese demand for an apology. Apparently, at least so far in public, not the case. It was just a little more than two weeks ago President Bush met here at the White House with the Chinese vice premier, Qian Qichen. He is the Chinese government's top foreign policy expert. At the time, both leaders voice hope for productive U.S.-China relations.

Obviously, this collision since then has put that into question. The administration now analyzing a letter from Vice Premier Chen to Secretary of State Colin Powell in which he once again insists on an apology. U.S. sources, though, saying don't believe everything you see in public. They understand both governments have to do some things designed more for the domestic political audience. They insist there's progress being made in these behind-the-scenes diplomatic negotiations -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: John King live from the White House, thanks so much -- Brian.

NELSON: International diplomacy is the domain of the U.S. State Department and as we have already heard, China's vice premier has said that the condolences and regrets from the U.S. are not adequate.

And for more on what this means in finding a resolution that can satisfy all sides, here now is our national security correspondent David Ensor, who is at the State Department right now -- David, is there any confidence that U.S. diplomats can satisfy the Chinese demands for an apology?

DAVID ENSOR, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: U.S. officials say they are not offering an apology with a capital A. But intensive diplomatic efforts are still underway, ambassadors in both Beijing and here in Washington taking advantage of the different time scale. The efforts move from Beijing when the time change occurs over to here.

They are going over a text, both the Chinese and the U.S. have offered texts, the goal being a final letter that a U.S. and a Chinese official could sign that would be a common understanding of what the two sides could agree to on the accident and where the two sides should go from here. U.S. officials say their position is that the letter should have an expression of regret in it.

There is talk of referring the whole matter to a little known maritime commission, the U.S.-Chinese Maritime Commission, which might then -- which is largely moribund but might be brought to life for this, and might then review the situation and try to decide in some kind of semi-objective way who really was to blame for the accident.

The goal of the diplomacy now was described yesterday by Senate Armed Services Chairman John Warner.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN WARNER, CHAIRMAN, ARMED SERVICES COMMITTEE: The letter will contain the final expressions so it is concurred on by the respected heads of state and government. And then it will establish the type of, should we say, meeting is the word currently being used, to assess very carefully over a period of time the facts. Now, somewhere in that schedule we would hope there would be a timely return of our crewmen.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ENSOR: And that is the key U.S. goal, to get the crewmen back as quickly as possible, U.S. officials recognizing the plane may be a longer term proposition -- Brian.

NELSON: All right, thank you, CNN's national affairs correspondent David Ensor, who is at the State Department for us this morning.

While the stand-off continues, let's turn now to a man who played a key role in U.S. policy during the Clinton administration. Leon Feurth was Al Gore's national security adviser for more than 20 years. He joins us this morning.

Mr. Feurth, first of all, thank you for being here this early.

LEON FEURTH, GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY: Yes.

NELSON: Is there, since this is a classic stand-off between China and the U.S., the question is is there any diplomatic wheel room between a regret and an apology?

FEURTH: There may be but I think regret is about the right place for the United States to be. It's neutral territory between callous indifference on the one hand and apologizing when we feel that we have done nothing wrong on the other. So I think our negotiators are right to stay on that track.

NELSON: But yet there has been some optimism that this confrontation can be resolved, at least in the last couple of days. And on the other hand, the Chinese media, for one, has been strident in its points of view and I think the Chinese themselves, the diplomats have been hardening their demands, at least publicly. So what do you think is going on?

FEURTH: First of all, it's important to know that there will be ups and downs in this process and it isn't over until it's over. So if on a given morning you wake up and you read in the newspapers that everything is going fine, the next thing that may happen is that a twist occurs in order to make sure that you're not that confident that you're out of the woods. And I think that's the kind of psychology that's underway.

It's tricky for them as well as for us politically and for them at this point it is an emotional problem. Of course, if our people remain in detention for very much longer, it's going to become exactly the same thing for us. I hope that the Chinese leadership recognize that and, in fact, are moving to resolve the situation.

NELSON: What do you make of the Chinese behavior in this incident?

FEURTH: There are several layers here. We know that they have not liked the reconnaissance flights and that they have been increasingly vocal about them and so on. But underneath that, there's something deeper that I think we ought to pay attention to, and that is China is emerging after a long period in the twilight as something that could be a great power in this century. And they're carrying with them communal memories of mistreatment at the hands of other countries in the 19th century and in the 20th century. Those things are there behind their present moves and they are trying to assert their position in the world and it is easy to see where there can be points of collision with the interests of the United States. That's happening in this instance.

NELSON: Would it help to assuage the Chinese antagonism if the United States agreed to either forego future flights of these reconnaissance planes down its coast or put them further out to sea or whatever they might do? Is there any wiggle room there?

FEURTH: I don't think that we can afford to change our pattern by very much. We need to maintain the principle that we can operate as needed in international air space and this is, as we regard it, international air space. Changing that principle works very much to our disadvantage and not just in relation to the Chinese.

What it does emphasize is a longer-term question. Assuming we get past this, the issue is what kind of relationship are we going to try and build with the Chinese that has a positive dimension, because you can be sure that there are going to be other collisions in the future. Will we have, so to speak, money in the bank in our relationship with China when those things happen?

NELSON: All right, thank you very much for your insights. Leon Feurth, we appreciate you're coming on this morning -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Well, as always, for more on U.S.-China stalemate, you can log onto cnn.com. There are reports from CNN reporters and photos of U.S. crew members that you can see. AOL users, the key word, CNN.

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