Ddraig
Far be for me to presume to understand exactly what is being discussed between our country and China over this incident but bear this in mind. In China, an apology is both a powerful expression of regret and an ADMISSION of wrongdoing/guilt. If the US were to issue an apology to China I would not be surprised to see some/all of those service members put on trial for some type of homicide charge (Remember what I just said, If the US were to apologize for the death of the Chinese pilot, we would be admitting that we were to blame for said death) The outcome of which could likely be execution of some/all of those service members. If this sounds farfetched to you then recall that we are talking about China, a country widely known for it's idea of "human rights" or lack thereof. Therefore I believe that apologizing would be the worst possible course of action in this matter. Not to mention the fact that there is no possible way our plane could have been at fault....it's slower, less maneuverable, generally flies on a steady heading, and is much easier to see then the fighter the Chinese "hotshot" was flying. What is really appalling about this is that a Chinese love muffin rams our plane FORCING it to land where it did and they have the gall to hold our servicemen captive because they landed without permission.....AND THEY WANT AN APOLOGY!! Yeah, as you see, it kind of ticks me off...Ah well, just my opinion, take it as you wish...
Redwolfe
[This message has been edited by Redwolfe (edited 04-10-2001).]