Pentagon has picture of close encounter with Chinese pilot

U.S. aircrews were familiar with Chinese pilot Wang Wei before Sunday's collision

By Jamie McIntyre
CNN Military Affairs Correspondent

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The Pentagon has a photograph of Wang Wei, the Chinese pilot involved in a collision with a U.S. plane, taken by the crew of an earlier U.S. surveillance flight, in which the pilot is holding up a sign with an e-mail address on it, officials said Thursday.

The picture was taken during an intercept by Chinese planes in early January and shows how close the Chinese fighters have come to U.S. planes during previous reconnaissance flights.

Sources said the photograph is one in a series of eight pictures taken that day that show the Chinese planes coming dangerously close to U.S. planes.

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Pentagon sources said the photographs have not been released because the Bush administration does not want to inflame the situation while delicate negotiations continue for the release of the crew.

Sen. Richard Lugar, R-Indiana, who sits on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said he had been told that this pilot was known for his aggressive tactics, but was not unique in that respect.

Lugar called Wang "one who was obviously interested in the assignment" and conducted "daring maneuvers"

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The Pentagon

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