New glitch in U.S. China talks over spy plane's return

U.S. Vice President Cheney believes the plane is too damaged to fly off Hainan

BEIJING, China -- China and the United States appear no closer to resolving a dispute over a U.S. spy plane now sitting on southern China's Hainan Island.

The Reuters news agency quotes a U.S. embassy spokesman in Beijing as saying talks were still underway on how to take the EP-3 plane off the island, where it had made an emergency landing on April 1 following a mid-air collision with a Chinese fighter jet.

"Discussions continue. Our strong preference remains to repair and fly out our airplane. That is the fastest and most efficient way to recover the aircraft," he told Reuters.

"We are prepared, if necessary, to disassemble and fly out the aircraft from China's Lingshui airfield. Technical discussions about the feasibility of that option are underway," he added.

The comments over the return of the spy plane represent a setback. On Thursday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhu Bangzao said Beijing had accepted a U.S. proposal to dismantle the plane and ship it home.

He also stressed that there was no way China could allow the spy plane to fly out.

"The United States has submitted a proposal to take apart the plane and take it back to the U.S," Zhu was quoted by Reuters as saying. "The Chinese side has agreed to that."

"We do not agree to flying the plane out of China, this is impossible," he said.

A question of face

Beijing has said allowing the $80 million plane to fly out of the country would be "a national humiliation."

By asking the U.S. to crate up the plane for a long, and potentially expensive journey home, China is seeking to humble the U.S. military and appease the public, which has appeared outraged by the collision.

Reuters says a team of five U.S. civilian technicians from plane maker Lockheed Martin had inspected to aircraft earlier this month, and they said it could be repaired sufficiently, so it can be flown off Hainan.

But U.S. Vice-President Dick Cheney has said the plane would have to be shipped out in crates because it was too badly damaged.

The collision, and subsequent diplomatic wrangling over the release of first, the spy plane's crewmembers and now the plane itself has angered U.S. politicians, and has threatened to spill over into the areas of trade.

Bush has to notify Congress of his intention to extend normal trade relations with China for another year by June 3. Beijing critics are already planning to challenge that decision.

Reuters contributed to this report.