China expressed its "utmost dissatisfaction" today with Washington's offer of $34,000 for the costs incurred during the three-month seizure of a US Navy surveillance plane, state media reported.
Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Ms Zhang Qiye was quoted as saying by the official Xinhua news agency that "the so-called 'decision' is unacceptable to China both in its content and form."
"We urge the US side to correct its erroneous decision, and take into consideration the reasonable request of the Chinese side for an appropriate settlement of the payment issue," she added.
Washington announced Thursday that payment was on its way to Beijing with official sources confirming the amount was about $34,000 - much less than the estimated one million dollars demanded by China to cover costs incurred while it held the EP3 aircraft earlier this year.
Rear Admiral Craig Quigley, a Pentagon spokesman, had said in Washington that the payment was "for services rendered and assistance in taking care of the aircrew, and some of the materials and contracts to remove the EP-3 itself."
"Where we felt there was a fair value provided by the Chinese, we tried to provide a fair dollar value for that service," he said.
He said the payment, which would be made by the US embassy in Beijing in the next few days, was "non-negotiable. That's the end of it."
The crippled EP-3 made an emergency landing at Lingshui air field on Hainan island on April 1 after colliding with a Chinese fighter jet off the southern coast of China. The pilot of the Chinese plane was killed.
China, which blamed the collision on the US aircraft, held the plane's 24 crew members for 11 days for making an unauthorized landing at a Chinese airfield.
It finally allowed the return of the aircraft on July 5 but insisted it be dismantled first and flown out of the country aboard a Russian cargo plane.
AFP