After five days of entrenchment, the first signs emerged yesterday of a possible end to the standoff between China and the US over the spy plane collision.
China described the US statement of regret over the missing Chinese pilot as "a step in the right direction", while the White House confirmed that diplomatic efforts to resolve the stalemate over the stranded US surveillance aircraft and its crew of 24 had intensified.
The White House spokesman, Mr Ari Fleischer, said engagement between the two governments had increased with "a variety of contacts under way".
A Foreign Ministry spokesman in Beijing said while China welcomed the "regret" statement, it was not enough and the US side should admit its mistakes and apologise to help a speedy resolution. He refused to spell out what form of US co-operation would satisfy Beijing.
China continued to hold the 24-member crew on the Chinese island of Hainan. According to the Foreign Ministry spokesman, a second meeting between US diplomats and the crew would not be arranged unless the US showed signs of "a co-operative approach". The rescue effort for the missing Chinese pilot continued.
Asked whether China viewed the 24 US crew members as criminals, spies or hostages, the spokesman said: "They are the culprits in this and they are in China. The fact is they illegally intruded into China's airspace."
But another small signal that the two sides were hopeful of working the problem out came when the spokesman ruled out the possibility of bringing in a mediator, such as the UN, to carry out a joint investigation into Sunday's mid-air collision.
"China and the United States are handling this through diplomatic channels. I do not see a need for other approaches", the spokesman added.
The US ambassador to China, Admiral Joseph Prueher, was also more optimistic yesterday when he told reporters in Beijing that channels of communication were opening.
"We are working on meetings, our communication is getting better and both our governments are working pretty hard to solve this," he said.
The view in Beijing was that Chinese leaders were taking the hard line with the US because it was concerned about the reaction of ordinary Chinese and their anger about the incident.
One foreign affairs expert told The Irish Times that China had made its point and had been seen to stand up to the US. "Now it is time to move on and get down to the business of sorting out this problem as quickly as possible. There are clear signs now that this is happening," he said.
The director of the North American Division at the China Institute of Contemporary International Relations, Mr Chu Shulong, said if the leadership managed to get an apology out of the US, public opinion might be satisfied.
Memories of the protests on the streets of Beijing in 1999 after US bombers accidentally bombed the Chinese embassy in Belgrade, and the strong criticism the Chinese government got for failing to confront the US more forcefully, are still fresh in leaders' minds.
With the opening up of China and huge economic reform under way, communist ideology is being replaced by strong nationalist sentiment, which explains some of the strong anti-American feeling evident on the streets of Beijing in the last few days.
While the official Chinese media on Wednesday ran strong editorials criticising the US for its actions, they were more restrained yesterday.