The rift between the US and China over the fate of a US spy plane and crew widened last night with both sides trading accusations and demands.
China indicated that the crew of the aircraft, forced to make an emergency landing on China's Hainan Island on Sunday after colliding with a Chinese fighter jet, would not be released until the US apologised and gave a reassurance it would halt all surveillance flights near China's coast.
Three senior US diplomats finally got a 40-minute meeting with the crew on Hainan Island just before midnight local time as they were about to enter their fourth day in captivity.
Meeting the 21 men and three women of the crew were representatives from the US embassy in Beijing. "The entire crew is in good health. They are being well taken care of," the Defence Attache, Brig Gen Neal Sealock, said in Haikou, capital of Hainan.
The US Secretary of State, Mr Colin Powell, yesterday demanded the "rapid release" of the crew and for China to turn over the aircraft.
Mr Powell said he was "pleased" and "gratified" that US diplomats had finally been granted access to the crew members, and he hoped the meeting was "a beginning to an end to this incident".
Speaking to reporters at the opening of Nagorno-Karabakh peace talks, Mr Powell said he was concerned by China's behaviour in the matter.
When asked at a late-night briefing in Beijing when the crew would be allowed to leave, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman said a release would be "in accordance with the investigation" into the incident.
There was speculation yesterday about a split between the Chinese leaders and senior military as to how to approach the crisis.
In his first public comments on the incident yesterday, President Jiang Zemin demanded the US accept full responsibility for the collision and halt all surveillance flights near China's coast.
On Monday President Bush had demanded immediate access to the crew and the return of the aircraft.
Mr Jiang said yesterday he could not understand why the US often sent its aircraft to make surveillance flights in areas so close to China.
He said Sunday's incident was in violation of international law and practice. "The US plane bumped into our plane, invaded the Chinese territorial airspace and landed at our airport," he said.
White House officials said there was no evidence yet to support some reports that China had removed equipment from the surveillance aircraft. There has been no talk of US retaliation.