China agrees to end airmen's 11-day detention after Washington uses words 'very sorry' over collision incident
Twenty-four American crew who have been held on Hainan Island for 11 days since a US spy plane and a Chinese jet fighter collided are due to leave for home today after the US said it was 'very sorry' for the incident.
President Jiang Zemin said China had agreed to release the crew on 'humanitarian grounds', Xinhua reported. But he said the incident was not over and hoped the US would take China's position into consideration.
A chartered Continental Airlines plane left the US Pacific territory of Guam at 12.30am to pick up the crew. The flight was due to take about 5.5 hours.
An agreement was reached yesterday afternoon when US Ambassador Joseph Prueher met and delivered a letter to Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan in Beijing.
The letter said both President George W. Bush and US Secretary of State Colin Powell expressed their 'sincere regret' over the missing Chinese pilot, Wang Wei, and conveyed to his family that they were 'very sorry for their loss'.
It went on to say that the US was 'very sorry' for entering China's airspace and admitted that the landing did not have verbal clearance.