China bans spy plane from returning to US
China today protested at the resumption of US spy flights near its coast and said in retaliation it will not allow the release of the damaged surveillance plane it impounded after a mid-air collision.
Without ruling out the plane’s return, a Foreign Ministry spokesman said the aircraft cannot be repaired and flown back to the United States.
Spokesman Sun Yuxi said China already made its opposition to the flight clear to Washington.
‘‘The Chinese side has several times stated clearly in relevant Sino-US negotiations that it is impossible for the US EP-3 plane to fly back to the US,’’ Sun said.
The statement, which appeared on the government-run Xinhua News Agency, did not say why China opposed allowing the spy plane to fly home.
The plane has being sitting on a military runway on China’s Hainan Island since making an emergency landing on April 1 after a collision with a Chinese fighter jet.
The United States is considering cutting the four-engine aircraft into pieces to ship back on a barge or in a cargo plane.
