Mon Apr 02 2001 02:02:46 ET
REPORT: U.S. PLANE ISSUED ‘MAYDAY’ AFTER CHINESE FIGHTER JETS SIGNALED THEY
WOULD OPEN FIRE
TAIPEI, April 2 — KYODO — A U.S. surveillance plane made an emergency
landing in China on Sunday because two intercepting Chinese fighter jets
signaled they would likely open fire, high-placed Taiwan military
intelligence sources were quoted as saying Monday.
The sources said they listened in on radio contact between the U.S. Navy
aircraft — an EP-3 Aries II surveillance plane — and the Chinese jets, the
ETT television network reported on its Web site.
The dialogue shows that the Chinese pilots indicated that they were
"extremely likely" to open fire, causing the U.S. aircraft to send a mayday
signal to prevent an attack, the sources were quoted as saying.
When the U.S. plane prepared for an emergency landing on the Chinese island
of Hainan, it was clipped by one of the Chinese jets.
The Chinese jet crashed into the South China Sea and its pilot remains
missing. All 24 aboard the U.S. plane were reported unharmed. Washington
said that the collision occurred in international airspace.
While China is blaming the U.S. for the collision, the Taiwanese sources
said it was the Chinese who caused the collision when they zoomed in on the
surveillance plane in a bid to intercept it.
The sources said initially the crew aboard one of the Chinese jets was
elated when the U.S. plane went down, but that such euphoria quickly
evaporated when they heard that the other Chinese fighter had crashed.
Taiwan’s Defense Ministry originally kept a low profile in connection with
the incident, saying in a short statement Sunday night that it was on top of
the situation.
But on Monday, Administrative Vice Defense Minister Kao Yang called the
incident "beyond comprehension," arguing that any country’s ground control
is able to track and control the movements of its aircraft.
Speaking during questioning in the legislature, Kao refused to comment on
whether the incident was likely to cause tension in Sino-U.S. ties.
But he said if both sides took a hard-line stance, the resulting standoff
would likely boost Taiwan’s prospects for obtaining advanced weaponry from
the United States.
He said it was difficult to say whether U.S. arms sales to Taiwan would be
positively or negatively affected in the event of an amicable resolution of
the collision.
Washington will decide in the coming weeks which items on Taiwan’s shopping
list — including four destroyers equipped with the state-of-the-art Aegis
antimissile radar system — will get the go-ahead.
China is adamantly opposed to the Aegis deal since the destroyers would
greatly improve Taiwan’s ability to fend off incoming Chinese missiles.
END
Don’t piss your pants and go hide in the woods yet. This sort of thing
happened everyday during the cold war. Ask a man that served his country in
the Indian Ocean, Korean DMZ, or Dew Line. Also, keep in mind that the only
reason there is a Taiwan is the United States military protection.
I would not expect a person that has NEVER served his country to understand
the world we live in. Don’t worry we have protected you so far.
"A real American" <robl…@micron.net> wrote in message
news:z7Zx6.204$CQ2.140530@news03.micron.net…
- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -
> Mon Apr 02 2001 02:02:46 ET
> REPORT: U.S. PLANE ISSUED ‘MAYDAY’ AFTER CHINESE FIGHTER JETS SIGNALED
THEY
> WOULD OPEN FIRE
> TAIPEI, April 2 — KYODO — A U.S. surveillance plane made an emergency
> landing in China on Sunday because two intercepting Chinese fighter jets
> signaled they would likely open fire, high-placed Taiwan military
> intelligence sources were quoted as saying Monday.
> The sources said they listened in on radio contact between the U.S. Navy
> aircraft — an EP-3 Aries II surveillance plane — and the Chinese jets,
the
> ETT television network reported on its Web site.
> The dialogue shows that the Chinese pilots indicated that they were
> "extremely likely" to open fire, causing the U.S. aircraft to send a
mayday
> signal to prevent an attack, the sources were quoted as saying.
> When the U.S. plane prepared for an emergency landing on the Chinese
island
> of Hainan, it was clipped by one of the Chinese jets.
> The Chinese jet crashed into the South China Sea and its pilot remains
> missing. All 24 aboard the U.S. plane were reported unharmed. Washington
> said that the collision occurred in international airspace.
> While China is blaming the U.S. for the collision, the Taiwanese sources
> said it was the Chinese who caused the collision when they zoomed in on
the
> surveillance plane in a bid to intercept it.
> The sources said initially the crew aboard one of the Chinese jets was
> elated when the U.S. plane went down, but that such euphoria quickly
> evaporated when they heard that the other Chinese fighter had crashed.
> Taiwan’s Defense Ministry originally kept a low profile in connection with
> the incident, saying in a short statement Sunday night that it was on top
of
> the situation.
> But on Monday, Administrative Vice Defense Minister Kao Yang called the
> incident "beyond comprehension," arguing that any country’s ground control
> is able to track and control the movements of its aircraft.
> Speaking during questioning in the legislature, Kao refused to comment on
> whether the incident was likely to cause tension in Sino-U.S. ties.
> But he said if both sides took a hard-line stance, the resulting standoff
> would likely boost Taiwan’s prospects for obtaining advanced weaponry from
> the United States.
> He said it was difficult to say whether U.S. arms sales to Taiwan would be
> positively or negatively affected in the event of an amicable resolution
of
> the collision.
> Washington will decide in the coming weeks which items on Taiwan’s
shopping
> list — including four destroyers equipped with the state-of-the-art Aegis
> antimissile radar system — will get the go-ahead.
> China is adamantly opposed to the Aegis deal since the destroyers would
> greatly improve Taiwan’s ability to fend off incoming Chinese missiles.
> END
It think we ought to send a team of NAvy Seals in and get our people and plane
back.
Fraternally,
Walt
Sgt. NYSDOCS
"The last refuge of someone with nothing to say is Ad Homenim."