| Bush hails crew for honor, duty during ordeal Jiang says issue not 'fully settled' 04/13/2001 Associated Press / The Dallas Morning News
HONOLULU – Leaving their damaged spy plane on a Chinese island, 24 U.S. crew members landed Thursday in Hawaii to cheers and to face two long days of debriefing before weekend reunions with families and friends.
"We're definitely glad to be back," said Lt. Shane Osborn, the spy mission commander, in a short statement to officials and military families.
President Bush spoke from Washington with the crew members shortly after they touched down at Hickam Air Force Base.
"They did their duty with honor and with great professionalism," he said in a statement that held the U.S. crew blameless for the collision with a Chinese military jet that forced their plane to land in China. Mr. Bush took no questions.
"I know I speak for all Americans when I say welcome home to our flight crew," he said, adding that U.S. officials were looking forward to talking with the crew about "exactly how the accident happened."
In Hawaii, Lt. Osborn said all crew members were healthy and eager to get on with the last stage in their mission: 26 hours of debriefings.
"On behalf of Combat Reconnaissance Crew 1, I'd like to thank you once again, and God bless America," he said, holding an American flag.
"A proud Navy day," a banner proclaimed, welcoming the crew freed 12 days after their surveillance plane collided with a Chinese jet over the South China Sea. Hawaii's four members of Congress and other officials welcomed the crew, along with local military families, after an overnight flight from Guam aboard a military transport jet.
"We're all very proud of you and the way you conducted yourselves this past two weeks," said Adm. Thomas Fargo, the Pacific Fleet commander. "Welcome back and well done."
He read a letter from Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, who said, "You put your lives at risk so the citizens of a grateful nations can live their lives in peace and freedom."
In Beijing, the government declared victory Thursday, but President Jiang Zemin said the incident is not "fully settled."
Both Washington and Beijing staked out positions for a meeting next week to discuss the April 1 collision. During the meeting, China is expected to renew its demand that the United States stop surveillance flights off China's shores.
The talks Wednesday will deal with the investigation into the collision and the return of the U.S. Navy EP-3E, which remained in Chinese hands after the crew was released.
Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Zhang Qiyue said China also might want to discuss compensation for its pilot, who is missing since the collision, and for the F-8 fighter jet, which spiraled down into the South China Sea.
"The incident has not been fully settled. We hope that the U.S. side will adopt a serious attitude toward China's standpoint on the incident and handle it properly," said Mr. Jiang, who is on a 12-day tour of Latin America.
In Beijing, Premier Zhu Rongji told visiting U.N. General Assembly President Harri Holkeri of Finland, "All responsibilities for the incident lie with the U.S. side."
The U.S. Navy crew disputed China's account of the collision that brought down their surveillance plane. And Mr. Bush said "tough questions" would be put to China at the meeting next week.
Mr. Bush spoke by telephone to Lt. Osborne, the mission commander. The rest of the crew listened to the conversation via speakerphone.
"Y'all there?" Mr. Bush asked.
"We're all here, sir. Thank you for getting us here," Lt. Osborn replied.
"Welcome home. We appreciate you. You did your duty. You represent the best of America," the president said. "As an old F-102 pilot, let me tell you, Shane, you did a heck of a job bringing that aircraft down. You made your country proud."
Through most of the protracted negotiations that freed the crew but not their aircraft, Mr. Bush had approached Beijing with diplomatic care, insisting that the surveillance was legal but also approving expressions of sorrow that the Chinese pilot was lost and that the American plane did not secure approval for its emergency landing after the April 1 collision.
But after crew members told debriefers that they had been on a "fixed course" and had not swerved into the Chinese jet fighter, as Beijing contended, Mr. Bush stood in the Rose Garden on Thursday and let loose, castigating not only the detention of the 21 men and three women, but China's record on human rights, religious freedom and stability in the Asia-Pacific region.
"The United States and China will no doubt again face difficult issues and fundamental disagreements. We disagree on important, basic issues," he said.
Referring to Wednesday'smeeting, Mr. Bush said, "I will ask our United States representative to ask the tough questions about China's recent practice of challenging United States aircraft operating legally in international airspace."
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