Word: fighter
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...live by the sword might lie for the sword. Although nobody has revealed just what he knew and when, U.S. officials surmise that China's leader read military reports saying exactly what the state-run media announced: that the pilot of the U.S. spy plane had "rammed" the Chinese fighter, then "invaded" Chinese airspace. So, naturally, Jiang demanded an end to surveillance flights and an apology. Talks stalled immediately. Frustrated U.S. diplomats involved in the negotiations concluded it was "very possible" that the military presented Jiang "a set of facts at odds with what really happened...
...Rumsfeld began a reporters' briefing with a frightening recording made by a U.S. EP-3E crew flying near China in January. The video image showed a Chinese F-8 jet hotdogging and harassing the American aircraft. Flying on the very edge of controllability, the F-8 pilot slowed his fighter down enough to dance alongside the U.S. plane. At one moment the nose fell dramatically, almost banging into the U.S. plane. U.S. officials say the pilot could very well have been Wang Wei, who two weeks ago accidentally flew his plane into another...
...live by the sword might lie for the sword. Although nobody has revealed just what he knew and when, U.S. officials surmise that China's leader read military reports saying exactly what the state-run media announced: that the pilot of the U.S. spy plane had "rammed" the Chinese fighter, then "invaded" Chinese airspace. So, naturally, Jiang demanded an end to surveillance flights and an apology. Talks stalled immediately. Frustrated U.S. diplomats involved in the negotiations concluded it was "very possible" that the military presented Jiang "a set of facts at odds with what really happened...
...turned around and sailed into the South China Sea, close to the island of Hainan, it may raise China's hackles. And the question is whether we really want to do this. If you were the President, you may want to consider whether it's worth sending up fighter planes in a region where the Chinese are so jittery that they may end up shooting at you, which could start a war. On the other hand, you're not going to concede to China's demand to stop surveillance flights, and you have to find a way to ensure...
...Rather than sending up fighter planes, my instinct tells me the U.S. is more likely to resume surveillance flights, but start them off a lot further away from the Chinese coastline - 50 or more miles out rather than at the 12-mile boundary. That allows the U.S. to maintain the precedent of surveillance flights and show the Chinese we're still in the neighborhood without sticking them in the eye. If everyone wants to calm the situation down, I think flights will resume this week but well offshore. And over time the flights would then move closer again...