China fighter pilot becomes a 'martyr'

BEIJING, China -- In death, China has elevated Wang Wei, the fighter pilot at the centre of the Sino-American spy plane dispute, to the rank of "revolutionary martyr."

Wang's title, conferred by the Communist Party committee of the navy based on cabinet "Regulations on Commending Revolutionary Martyrs," will bring benefits including a stipend for Wang's widow and a free education for the son he left behind.

Two leading schools in Beijing have already offered full scholarships to Wang's son.

State media paid tribute to Wang on Sunday, saying he had been proclaimed a "martyr" after China called off a massive sea search launched after an April 1 collision between his F-8 fighter and the U.S. spy plane over the South China Sea.

"Wang Wei was an example that all navy officers and soldiers should learn from," the official Xinhua news agency quoted Navy Commander Shi Yunsheng as telling Wang's parents in Beijing.

'Devoted his life'

"Wang Wei devoted his life to the interests of the country and the nation. He is not only the pride of his family but the pride of all Navy officers and soldiers," Shi said.

Wang joins countless thousands of "revolutionary martyrs" in China, stretching back to underground party activists executed in the 1930s and including three Chinese state journalists killed in the NATO bombing of China's Belgrade embassy in May 1999.

Recent "martyrs" include policemen killed in the line of duty and officials assassinated in attacks by ethnic separatists in the restive Muslim province of Xinjiang.

The martyrs and their deeds are the subject of periodic study campaigns and the shrines of the most famous ones have been declared patriotic education sites to which millions of young students are taken each year.

Washington and Beijing are at odds over who was to blame for the collision.

The United States blames Wang and to support its accusations has made public a videotape of him and his fighter taken during previous close calls with American planes.

China says the U.S. EP-3 surveillance plane veered suddenly into him and sent his aircraft crashing into the South China Sea.

Wang bailed out while the American plane made an emergency landing on China's Hainan Island.

China detained the 24 crew of the spy plane but freed them on Thursday after Washington said it was "very sorry" Wang had died and that the EP-3 had landed without permission.

U.S. Ambassador Joseph Prueher, a former fighter pilot, issued his own condolences on Wednesday.

"I would like to add my expression of sorrow to that of the president and secretary of state over the loss of the pilot Wang Wei, who was a husband, a father and also a fellow aviator," he said in a statement.

Reuters contributed to this report.

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