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CNN Live Sunday
U.S. Officials Gain Permission to View Navy Surveillance Plane
Aired April 29, 2001 - 17:01 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.
STEPHEN FRAZIER, CNN ANCHOR: A U.S. inspection team is getting ready to head to China now to view the Navy surveillance plane still on Hainan Island after it made an emergency landing there earlier this month. Chinese officials say they have finished inspecting the plane. They will permit the United States to take a look now. The White House calls the decision a constructive step, but questions remain, including whether China is expecting a payment in return for U.S. access to the plane.
CNN's Kelly Wallace is at the White House now with more details on all this -- Kelly.
KELLY WALLACE, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Stephen, China's state-run news agency is reporting that the United States has agreed to make a payment to China, but the message coming from senior Bush administration officials where are hitting the Sunday talk shows to talk about President Bush's first 100 days in office is that the United States would not be providing any compensation to China in exchange for access to that American surveillance plane.
U.S. officials say the United States will only pay for those costs associated with removing the plane from Hainan Island.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANDREW CARD, WHITE HOUSE CHIEF OF STAFF: It's a constructive development that the Chinese will allow our investigators to come in. We know that's important and it's a good step forward. I have every reason to believe that we will get to the point where we can bring the plane home.
In terms of compensation to China, there is no expectation that there will be compensation to China for our plane. Obviously, we will have to provide some private contracts or contracts to people that will help package the plane so we can bring it back, but I'm not aware of any expectation there would be compensation.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WALLACE: But observers believe the Chinese are likely to paint anything the United States pays as providing compensation, this a way to placate the Chinese people, who are very angry following the collision between the American plane and the Chinese fighter jet and the death of that Chinese fighter pilot Wang Wei. Democratic lawmakers are urging the administration to make sure it only pays the reasonable cost associated with returning that plane to the United States. Other questions, though, do remain, including if China will in fact agree to return the plane to the United States, and also why China is making this offer now, especially after a week in which President Bush angered the Chinese people after he offered a very large arms package Taiwan and after he became the first U.S. president to say publicly that the United States would defend Taiwan if it were attacked by China.
Some observers believe the Chinese people or the Chinese government is trying to strike the right balance between taking a hard line approach to appease the domestic audience as well as trying not to worsen relationships, especially when it comes to issues of concern such as trade, Beijing's bid for the 2008 Olympic and China's call for an end to those U.S. surveillance flights -- Stephen.
FRAZIER: Yes, a lot a stake here, Kelly. I know this team hasn't actually landed on the ground to take a look at the plane up close, but is anyone at the White House saying whether surveillance photos from satellites or any other devices have made it clear whether that plane is in one piece or his it been picked apart?
WALLACE: Well, certainly, the United States, from those photos and its other intelligence gathering measures, has been able to see that some of that plane has been picked apart. In fact, Vice President Cheney was asked about this question today. He said the U.S. is still doing a damage assessments to see how much of the sensitive information was destroyed by that crew before it was forced to make an emergency landing on Hainan Island. But he did say he was fairly confident that the crew was able to destroy, in his words, the pretty or the very sensitive stuff -- Stephen.
FRAZIER: At the White House Kelly Wallace. Kelly, thank you.
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