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US Official: Relations with China Improving Greatly after Spy Plane Incident
Relations between the United States and China have improved tremendously since the incident earlier this year over a US spy plane, White House national security adviser Condoleezza Rice said Thursday.
"I'm happy to report that I think US-China relations are improving tremendously," she said in remarks after a foreign-policy speech at the National Press Club.
Washington recognizes the positive economic and political changes in China despite differences over security issues and human rights, she said.
"If China emerges as a stronger economic power, but with a more liberalized political system, that will be very, very good for the world," Rice said.
In the incident on April 1, a US Navy spy plane landed on China's Hainan island following a mid-air collision with a Chinese fighter jet -- which crashed into the sea.
Even in the tense period of US-Chinese relations which followed, US hopes "to preserve the framework for a productive relationship," Rice said.
The 24-member crew of the US plane stayed in China for 11 days following the collision and were sent back home after necessary investigation. The dismantled aircraft was flown to the United States last week.
Both sides blamed each other for the collision over the South China Sea, and relations between China and the fledgling Bush administration plunged to a tense low.
Rice defended the administration's desire to quickly return to normal relations with Beijing, saying: "There are going to be difficult issues. But this has to be put in a larger context."
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