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Joint commission could resolve dispute as both sides still refuse to budge 

WASHINGTON – President Bush and Chinese President Jiang Zemin were reviewing drafts of a letter Friday that would have a joint commission resolve a dispute over a U.S. spy plane and its 24-member crew, as the two sides moved toward a diplomatic resolution. 

With Bush administration optimism rising, Sen. John W. Warner, R-Va., said the formula for a solution was being outlined in the letter. It would give both the Americans and the Chinese an opportunity to air their cases. 

The proposal is designed to lead to the release of the 24 American crew members held since Sunday by the Chinese. By all accounts, they are being well-treated, but their 6-day detention has roiled an already touchy U.S. relationship with China. 

A photograph of 11 of the crew members, taken during their first meeting with U.S. diplomats last Tuesday, was distributed by the Pentagon to family members “so they could see their loved ones,” State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said. The photograph showed the 11 sitting at a table, looking forward with  

little expression. 

Without referring directly to the strategy to have the United States and China air their versions of the U.S. surveillance flight, President Bush said “we’re making progress” in negotiations. 

The president’s appraisal reflected a growing expectation that a deal would emerge from a flurry of diplomatic activity. Two U.S. officials, in fact, suggested the crew could be released this weekend. 

Warner, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said after a CIA and Pentagon briefing that the two sides were drafting a letter “that will contain exchanges of views” on how the Navy spy plane and a Chinese jet fighter collided over the South China Sea. 

The letter, Warner said, was being upgraded from the ambassador and foreign minister level to review “both by our president and the president of China, so it will reflect a common understanding.” 

He said there would be no U.S. apology in the letter. “I believe the ambassador and others expressed regret for loss of life. That will be embraced in the letter,” Warner said. 

A senior administration official said the letter would bear the signature of the U.S. ambassador, retired Adm. Joseph Prueher, not Bush, but Bush directed that it be drafted and would approve final language. 

Another official cautioned that in negotiations obstacles and hurdles frequently develop. 

The likeliest arrangement for a resolution is to have the two sides make their cases about the collision of the U.S. plane and a Chinese fighter jet at a special meeting of a joint maritime commission set up three years ago to enhance safety on the seas, a senior U.S. official told The Associated Press. 

In this way, the United States and China could air their positions. China says the plane violated Chinese airspace and sovereignty. The United States denies the allegations. 

Earlier Friday, Secretary of State Colin Powell said the United States and China were exchanging “rather precise ideas” for the release of the 21 men and three women. 

The crew met Friday with an American general on Hainan island, the second such meeting since the collision and the first since negotiations intensified Thursday.  

Another was scheduled for Saturday. 

“They’re housed in officers’ quarters and they’re being treated well,” Bush said. “We know this is a difficult time for their families and I thank them for their patriotism and their patience.” 

“We’re working hard to bring them home through intense negotiations with the Chinese government and we think we’re making progress,” Bush said. 

The United States and China were exchanging “rather precise ideas” for the release of the 21 men and three women, Powell said. “I’m encouraged because there has been movement,” he said. 

“All of the crew members were in fine shape,” he said. “They are in good health. They are in high spirits. Their morale is good.” 

Bush and Brig. Gen. Neal Sealock, the U.S. defense attache in Beijing, spoke for about 10 minutes after Sealock met with the crew, and the president “was very heartened” to hear the crew was in good condition, White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said. 

Asked if the United States had insisted on the crew’s release, Powell said: “We are in very intensive discussions and negotiations and exchanging ideas and papers, and there has been movement. But that’s as far as I’d like to go right now.” 

Powell’s glowing account of the condition of the crew appeared designed both to assure families and as a gesture to the captors. 

He said they were even receiving catered meals. 

Late Friday, the Chinese ambassador, Yang Jiechi, met at the State Department with Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage, who is playing a leading role in the negotiations. Boucher called the meeting “part of our continuing diplomatic exchanges” and said there would be further meetings in Washington and Beijing overnight and over the weekend. 

While Powell did not specify what mechanisms were under discussion to free the servicemen and women, several administration sources mentioned the agreement signed by the two countries in 1998 to strengthen military maritime safety. 

The agreement provides for investigation of incidents by a commission.  

China could thereby claim the United States had implicitly conceded wrongdoing with use of the surveillance plane, while the Bush administration could continue to maintain the crew had done nothing illegal.