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Bush to Meet US Spy Plane Crew at White House
The 24 crew members of a US Navy spy plane at the center of an 11-day standoff with China last month will meet President George W. Bush at the White House on Friday, administration officials said.
The EP-3 surveillance aircraft collided with a Chinese jet fighter over the South China Sea on April 1 and made an emergency landing on Hainan Island. The plane is still there.
China released the crew 11 days later after diplomats and officials in Beijing and Washington negotiated an end to the stalemate with a letter in which the United States said it was "very sorry" for the Chinese pilot's death and for landing on Chinese territory without permission.
Bush, who was spending the Easter break at his ranch in Crawford, Texas when the crew members returned to their home base in Washington State on April 14, did not attend the welcoming ceremony.
His spokesman Ari Fleischer said Bush believed it was not necessary for politicians to insert themselves into every "tender moment" and that the president feared the "hoop-de-la" of his visit would interfere with the reunion of loved ones.
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