Rumsfeld Blocks China Contacts

Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has reduced American military contacts with China to signal the Pentagon's displeasure with China's handling of a collision between a U.S. reconnaissance plane and a Chinese jet fighter, a senior official traveling with Rumsfeld said on Monday.

The official, who asked not to be identified, stressed that Rumsfeld continued to look at bilateral contacts on a case by case basis but confirmed a New York Times report that those contacts has been reduced since the April 1 mid-air collision off the Chinese coast.

The official said Chinese officers were no longer being invited to seminars at the Asia-Pacific Center for Security in Honolulu, the U.S. defense department's main study center on security issues in the region.

The official also confirmed the Times report that although U.S. officers were authorized to attend multi-national seminars on relief operations to which Chinese officers were also invited, Rumsfeld had issued specific guidance that the American officers were to "minimize contact" with their Chinese counterparts.

Under the new policy of reduced ties, the United States is also no longer requesting port calls in Hong Kong by American warships. China last week announced that it had rejected a planned visit by an American navy ship.

"We are looking at things on a case by case basis," the U.S. official told Reuters. "Right now, the priority is to get the plane back."

China agreed last week to return the U.S. navy EP-3 spy plane which made an emergency landing on a military base on Hainan Island after it collided with the Chinese fighter which the United States charged had been harassing the lumbering four-engine turboprop aircraft in international air space off southeastern China.

But the Chinese insisted that the damaged aircraft be dismantled into several large pieces and flown away in large cargo planes rather than repaired and flown out by an American crew.

U.S. officials have also expressed deep displeasure with China's refusal to release the 24 members of the U.S. aircraft's crew until 11 days after the incident.

Confusion erupted last month when Rumsfeld's office announced military-to-military contacts between the United States and China had been suspended.

Hours after the announcement, the Pentagon abruptly reversed it, saying the order had "misinterpreted" Rumsfeld's position.

The Pentagon said Rumsfeld had actually decided to subject military contacts to a case-by-case review, instead of a blanket suspension. These contacts include ship visits and military personnel exchanges between the two countries.

A scheduled trip to China by the head of the U.S. National Defense University, Vice-Admiral Paul Gaffney, has been cancelled, along with visits by students from the university, the official said.

The administration had also cancelled a visit to the United States by a senior Chinese army officer, General Gu Boxiong.

Rumsfeld was in Ankara to meet Turkish leader to discuss U.S. policy toward Iraq and thank the Turks for basing U.S. and British warplanes which police a "no-fly" zone over northern Iraq.

He is at the start of a week-long trip that will take him to Ukraine for talks with President Leonid Kuchma and other officials on Tuesday and to five other countries.

By Charles Aldinger
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