China and the US fought a stubborn diplomatic war of words yesterday over the grounded American spy plane, as Beijing stepped up its calls for an apology and Washington expressed repeated "regret" for the loss of a Chinese fighter pilot in Sunday's mid-air incident over the South China sea.
The 24 crew members of the American navy EP-3 plane remained in Chinese hands throughout the day and there was no repetition of Tuesday's visit by a group of US diplomats.
But the lack of personal contact with the detained crew stood in contrast to a rapid exchange of private diplomatic meetings in Beijing and Washington, and to a succession of public statements on both sides as the two countries appeared to edge closer together in an effort to bring the stand-off to a conclusion.
China's president, Jiang Zemin, responding to Tuesday's second statement in two days from President George Bush, said the US should apologise and "do something favourable" to mend relations with Beijing.
"The present urgent task for the US side is to make a sincere, earnest, modest and po lite apology to the Chinese people and compensate for their losses," a commentary in the official People's Daily said.
"The US side should apologise to the Chinese people," Mr Jiang reiterated in Beijing before leaving on a visit to Latin America.
Mr Jiang's statement, implying that China's earlier demand for a US pledge to end its spy flights could be discussed later, gave the first of a succession of discreet public hints through the day that the two sides had upped the tempo of their behind-the-scenes efforts to resolve the four-day-old crisis.
Some hours later, the US secretary of state, Colin Powell, responded with a statement of regret over the loss of the Chinese F-8 fighter involved in the incident with the American reconnaissance plane, and over the apparent death of its pilot, Wang Wei.
"We regret that the Chinese plane did not put down safely and we regret the loss of life of that pilot, but now we need to move on and we need to bring this to a resolution," Mr Powell told reporters outside the state department in Washington.
His statement was echoed by a succession of expressions of regret from the White House spokesman, Ari Fleischer, and the state department's spokesman, Richard Boucher, though the administration was careful not to use the word "apology", specified by Mr Jiang.
"The United States doesn't understand the reason for an apology. Our airplanes are operating in international airspace, and the United States did nothing wrong," Mr Fleischer said.
"I think they're different words and just leave it at that," Mr Boucher said.
In another sign that the two sides might be moving slowly together, the Chinese ambassador to Washington, Yang Jiechi, gave an interview to CNN television in which he said that the clash between the American EP-3 and two Chinese fighters that were tailing it took place "just outside Chinese air space", a shift away from Beijing's earlier assertions that the clash had occurred over its waters.
In a further shift, it was reported that Chinese and American diplomats were discussing possible formulations for setting up an inquiry into the incident.
The Chinese foreign minister, Tang Jiaxuan, said that "China values its ties with the US and hopes that the incident will be settled properly at an early date." Mr Powell told reporters: "We're exploring avenues by which we can get a dialogue going that causes both sides to present explanations."
On both sides of the Pacific attention began to focus on the families of the service personnel involved in the incident. US families on Whidbey Island in Washington state tied yellow ribbons round trees as the traditional rituals of earlier detentions began to be played out.
In China, a public appeal from the wife of the lost Chinese pilot, was broadcast yesterday, adding to public emotion.
"Wang Wei, where are you?", Ruan Guoqin was quoted as saying. "Your son Wang Ting and I are waiting for you, your family is anxious to see you, and your battle comrades are waiting too."
Chinese television showed pictures of the EP-3 plane on the tarmac at Lingshui military airbase, on Hainan island. They noted the damage to the underside of its left wing, to a propellor blade, and the plane's radar nose cone. These were said to prove that the US plane had "bumped" against the Chinese fighter, causing it to crash.
In Washington, the national security agency said that it was "pleased" by reports that the EP-3's crew had been able to disable much of its surveillance equipment before the plane landed on Hainan.
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04.04.2001: John Gittings reports from Shanghai (2mins 39)
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