The United States expressed regret for the loss of a Chinese pilot after a collision with a US spy plane, but refused to bend to President Jiang Zemin's demands for a full apology over the incident.
"We regret that the Chinese plane did not get down safely and we regret the loss of the life of that Chinese pilot," Secretary of State Mr Colin Powell told reporters outside the State Department.
"But now we need to move on. We need to bring this to a resolution and we are using every avenue available to us to talk to the Chinese side to exchange explanations and move on."
Amid early signs that both sides might be seeking diplomatic language to move towards a face-saving exit from the four-day drama, China's embassy in Washington immediately welcomed Mr Powell's words, even though they fell short of what Beijing has demanded.
"That is a very important statement of course," embassy press spokesman Zhang Yuanyaun said. "We were watching what the Americans would do."
But while offering regret, US officials made clear they would not budge from their point blank refusal to provide the apology for Sunday's incident demanded by President Jiang.
"The United States does not understand the reason for an apology," an offical said. "Our airplane was operating in international airspace and the United States did nothing wrong."
Earlier, before leaving Beijing on a trip to Latin America, President Jiang said: "the US side should apologize to the Chinese people for the Sunday collision between Chinese and US military planes."
But his words were vague enough to suggest a some kind of gesture from the United States might lead to a slight easing of the row.
"The United States should do something favorable to the smooth development of Sino-US relations, rather than make remarks that confuse right and wrong and are harmful to the relations," President Jiang, quoted by the official Xinhua news agency, said.
President Jiang also issued orders for missing pilot Wang Wei, who parachuted out of his plane after it collided with the US EP-3 surveillance plane on Sunday, to be found at all cost.
State Department spokesman Mr Richard Boucher said there had been an "evolution" in the row over the downed spy-plane but no "breakthrough."
"I think both sides are saying to each other now that they're looking for a way to resolve the situation," he said.
AFP
