Pentagon backs away from halting military contacts with China

From Chris Plante
CNN National Security Producer

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The Pentagon on Wednesday backed away from the hard line it had drawn earlier in the day over military contacts with China.

A Defense Department memo provided to CNN Wednesday afternoon and issued under the name of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld ordered a halt to all U.S. military "programs and contacts" with China.

Pentagon officials said they believed that the order meant that Navy port calls to Hong Kong and other Chinese cities would be halted, and planned search missions for servicemen missing in action in China since World War II would be put on hold.

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But later Wednesday, Defense Department officials told CNN that the memo was issued in error and that the Pentagon's policy was to review all military contacts with China on a case-by-case basis.

The earlier memo apparently was made in response to the April 1 collision between a Navy EP-3E surveillance aircraft and a Chinese fighter jet that forced the U.S. plane to land on China's Hainan Island.

Twenty-four crew members were held for 11 days by the Chinese before their release could be arranged. The U.S. plane remains on the island.

A U.S. inspection team had access twice Wednesday to the plane in an effort to determine whether the plane can be repaired to allow it to be flown off the island.

There was no public announcement made of the change in policy and officials said the memo could not be released to the public.

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U.S. Department of Defense
 • Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld
Government Information Office, Republic of China

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