Associated Press
BEIJING — China still wants compensation from the United States over the collision of a U.S. surveillance plane and a Chinese jet fighter, the Foreign Ministry said Thursday.
China asked for $1 million for plane-related expenses and lodging for the 24-member crew of the Whidbey Island-based Navy EP-3E. They were held for 11 days after their plane made an emergency landing April 1 on China’s Hainan island following the collision in international airspace over the South China Sea.
China rejected a U.S. offer of $34,000, which American officials said they viewed as fair and reasonable.
"The United States offer was totally unacceptable," ministry spokesman Sun Yuxi said in response to a reporter’s question about whether China has dropped its compensation demand.
"The issue remains at that point," Sun said at a regularly scheduled news conference.
The Chinese fighter plane was lost and the pilot presumed dead. The incident sorely tested China-U.S. relations, with each side blaming the other for the collision and China accusing the U.S. plane of landing on its territory in violation of international law.
At China’s insistence, the surveillance plane was disassembled before being returned to the United States.
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