On April 8, 2001, then-U.S. Secretary of State Powell used the phrase "sorry" for the first time in response to the then-raging Sino-AMERICAN plane collision.
"We do admit that we violated their (China') airspace and express 'regret' and 'sorry' about that," he said. ”
Although Powell then used a lot of arguments to make up for the violations of the US military as "an act of last resort", the media attention was basically on the word "sorry".
After all, for the United States, which prides itself on justice, there are too few times to apologize to other countries for its actions.
Powell
After the formation of the world's "one superpower and many powers" pattern, the United States, as the only superpower, has carried out many military and political activities in various regions in order to maximize its own interests, and at the same time, in order to put a fig leaf on itself, it will invent various reasons to prove that it is the "righteous" party.
Even if such a ridiculous thing as slandering Iraq with a tube of detergent was done, the United States did not apologize for its actions. What exactly did China do to get the U.S. secretary of state to say "I'm sorry"?
If you want to understand the whole picture, you also have to start from the moment of tragedy.
On the morning of April 1, 2001, a US Navy EP-3 electronic intelligence reconnaissance aircraft ,Aries, conducted reconnaissance activities over waters near Hainan Province, China.
This is a blatant intrusion into our national airspace and a violation of the relevant provisions of our relevant laws and regulations and international law. At 8:36 a.m., the nearby Naval Aviation Department detected the aircraft's activity, and nine minutes later two J-8 fighters were ordered to take off and intercept.
Pictured| the U.S. Navy EP-3E electronic reconnaissance aircraft
Ep-3 was a large reconnaissance aircraft of the US military at that time and the world's most advanced, with a length of 35 meters, a wingspan of up to 30 meters, 24 fixed seats, an endurance time of more than 12 hours, and a single voyage of more than 5400 kilometers; and the J-8 was only a single-seat single-player fighter, much smaller than the "Aries".
As an electronic reconnaissance aircraft, the EP-3 has a maximum flight speed of only 780 kilometers, while the J-8 has superior high-speed performance as a fighter, and its performance at low speed is worse.
It was precisely because the US reconnaissance plane had an absolute upper hand, and it did not believe that the Chinese reconnaissance plane really dared to attack it, so after discovering that our fighter plane was tracking for about 2 minutes, the "Aries" suddenly turned sharply and crashed into one of the two fighters of our army, at this time at 9:07 a.m.
The huge propeller of "Aries" instantly cut off the tail wing of 81192, and pilot Wang Wei requested a parachute. Another plane returned safely after confirming the location of Wang Wei's parachute.
Picture | Wang Wei
Although the J-8 is not good at low-speed steering, from the flight trajectory later restored, Wang Wei did not have the intention of hiding at that time, which was a typical "Barents scalpel", that is, the small fighter used its speed advantage to cut a hole in the fuselage of the large fighter with its tail.
The Su-27 fighter 1, which accomplished this feat that year, was more than 4 tons and had two vertical tails, while the J-8 weighed less than 10 tons and had only one vertical tail.
That is to say, after the J-8 became a "scalpel", the probability of the pilot surviving was extremely low, but Wang Weiyi greeted it without hesitation.
In the two weeks from April 1 to 14, the Navy dispatched 113 sub-ships, 115 aircraft, more than 100,000 search personnel, and repeatedly searched for an area of more than 80,000 square kilometers, and finally had no choice but to declare that Wang Wei had no chance of survival.
Picture | the final footage of Wang Wei's 81192 J-8II fighter taken by the US aircraft
Before the evacuation of the search and rescue area on the 15th, all the ships participating in the search and rescue operation honked their horns in mourning, and the officers and men of the Navy took off their hats on the ships and stood in silence.
Although the J-8 he piloted did not make a hole in the fuselage of the US aircraft, the collision also successfully knocked off the nose of the "Aries", making it impossible for the other side to control the aircraft for long-distance flight.
At 9:33 a.m., 26 minutes after the plane collided, the "Aries" forcibly landed at our army's Lingshui Naval Airport on Hainan Island without permission, and the plane and crew members were immediately detained by the PLA.
This is where the diplomatic "confrontation" between China and the United States begins: the Chinese side demands that the United States apologize for invading China's territorial airspace, and the United States demands that China release the hostages and aircraft it has detained.
At noon that day, the U.S. Embassy began a phone call with the Chinese Foreign Ministry, and U.S. State Department officials also established contact with the Chinese Embassy in the United States.
Pictured| Hainan Lingshui Airport, damaged US EP-3E reconnaissance aircraft forced to land
At about three o'clock in the afternoon of the same day, the US Military Pacific Headquarters issued a very rude statement, asking the Chinese Government to provide convenient conditions for the aircraft and crew members to play the United States "in accordance with international practice."
On the same day, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhu Bang issued a statement describing the whole process of the plane collision incident, solemnly declaring: "The responsibility for this incident lies entirely with the US side", and said that "the Chinese side has made solemn representations and protests to the US side in this regard."
Soon, the top leaders of the two countries also reacted to this.
Then-U.S. President George W. Bush, who was on vacation at Camp David, urgently convened a national security conference, and in his subsequent speeches protested, again threatening China with "violations of international practice," claiming that "this is inconsistent with the desire to improve relations between the two countries."
Comrade Jiang Zemin, then president of the country, issued a speech on the morning of 3 July, stressing that the responsibility lies with the US side, demanding that the UNITED States apologize to the Chinese and stop all reconnaissance flights in China's coastal airspace.
Pictured| George W. Bush
In Bush's speech, the phrase "the desire to improve relations between the two countries" was a joke.
As everyone knows, George W. Bush showed a tough attitude toward China during his presidential campaign, explicitly listing China as a "strategic rival" of the United States in his campaign platform, and Bush Jr.'s national security adviser clearly stated: "China is a potential threat to stability in the Asia-Pacific region."
Since the George W. Bush Administration took office, the situation of uniting with China's neighboring countries to restrain China has become very obvious, and the policy toward the Taiwan region has also turned to support.
In particular, George W. Bush has arranged a large number of hard-line Chinese anti-Chinese elements in his diplomatic and security teams, as are Vice President Cheney, Presidential Security Adviser Rice, Secretary of Defense, and others.
The US foreign affairs and security departments, which are mainly hardliners, have decided that it is impossible to be quiet and peaceful in the process of resolving the Sino-US plane collision incident, and Bush Jr.'s tough China policy that has just been adjusted also requires him not to show weakness.
Pictured| U.S. Senator Jesse Helms( left) will once again chair the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee during the appointment hearing on January 17, 2001
How high was the wave of "Chinese exclusion" in the United States at that time?
Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Helms publicly expressed his opposition to China's hosting of the 2008 Olympic Games as early as March of that year, and even more outrageously, on the morning of March 28 alone, the US House of Representatives Foreign Relations Committee passed three China-related bills. They are:
He demanded that the US Congress express its opposition to China's bid for the Olympic Games unless China "releases all political prisoners and abides by internationally recognized human rights norms"; asks the US representatives to the Geneva Conference on Human Rights to join other countries in demanding that China "stop violating human rights in Tibet"; and demands that the US government "support Taiwan's accession to the World Health Organization as an observer."
These proposals are tricks that the United States has played many times, exerting pressure through the power of politics and public opinion. At such a time, China must not show weakness.
Pictured| U.S. diplomats comfort the crew members
China is in the golden period of reform, opening up and economic development, and after the economic improvement, it is even more necessary to seek a higher international status. In this incident, it was originally the unreasonable invasion of the US side, which also caused the death of a pilot of our army.
If we bow to the United States without any violation of international law in our country, there will be no possibility of rising.
Not only has our country not committed any violations of international law and "international practice", but it has also properly placed 24 members of the US military crew in a humanitarian spirit.
U.S. diplomats met with the men on April 3 and later issued a statement saying they were safe. This is already a very proper way to deal with it.
The third and fourth days after the impact, 4 to 5 April, were a day of sharp deterioration.
The night before, Bush Jr. made another speech, threatening China to "not turn an accident into an international incident" and saying in a high-profile manner that "the United States has given China time to do the right thing" and that "this accident may undermine the expectations of a fruitful relationship between the two countries."
President Jiang Zemin unceremoniously "shrugged" back before his foreign visit to the six Latin American countries, saying: "The United States should do something conducive to the development of Sino-US relations, instead of making remarks that reverse right and wrong and are unfavorable to China and the United States." ”
The next day, President Jiang once again made his point clear: "The United States should apologize to the Chinese people on this matter." ”
Us speakers at all levels are still messing around, reversing black and white. According to the speeches of the two sides at this stage, the differences between the two sides can be summarized into five aspects:
First, who is responsible for the plane collision incident; second, whether it was an accident; third, whether the United States violated the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea; fourth, whether the US military plane landed at a military airport without the permission of the Chinese side and was suspected of illegal entry; and fifth, whether China has the right to investigate and collect evidence for the illegal entry of US military aircraft and crew.
The United States, which is obviously the party responsible for the accident, has not implemented the "low-key superpower" strategy proposed by George W. Bush during his campaign, but has always arrogantly used "international practice" to oppress the Chinese side, and insisted that "the US side is not wrong," and even rake backwards to demand that the Chinese side be responsible for this matter.
After April 4, public opinion in the two countries paid more and more attention to this matter, and the plane collision incident shifted from a diplomatic incident to a public opinion confrontation, and more and more extreme remarks were made.
For example, there have been voices in China demanding the trial of US military crews, holding demonstrations, and questioning why the government did not shoot down US planes; the attitude of Americans has become even tougher, and there have been many voices demanding the recall of ambassadors, the cancellation of investment in China, opposition to China's hosting of the Olympic Games and WTO accession, and further strengthening arms sales to Taiwan.
Civil voices are pressuring China on key issues, and the U.S. Congress is also using political forces to exert pressure.
On April 3, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill condemning Chinese rights record, which aims to accuse China of "detaining" 24 crew members as a "violation of human rights."
Pictured| McCain
There were also many threatening voices in the Senate, such as McCain, who lost to George W. Bush when running for the presidency, accusing "China of acting almost stupid"; And the chairman of the military commission Warner suggesting that Chinese pilots collided because of "disrespect for international airspace law".
To the surprise of the United States, in the world system of almost the "monopoly of one family" in the United States, there has emerged a country that resolutely opposes the Infringement of its own rights and interests by the United States, that is, China.
In this incident, the Chinese side completely ignored the US nonsense and reversed right and wrong, always insisted on conveying the truth of the incident to the international community through its own voice, and insisted on its own position without wavering.
Yang Jiechi, then China's Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the United States, spent a day four times between the U.S. State Department, Congress, and the Chinese Embassy in the United States to convey China's position, and in an interview with CNN, Yang Jiechi used a simple and easy-to-understand metaphor to illustrate the plane collision incident:
"There is a family, a house, a front yard, there is a group of people who are always driving on the street in front of this house, not to your front yard, but it is day and night, month after month, year after year, driving around near the front yard, and someone in the family comes out to check, and as a result, the family's car is destroyed and people are missing." I think families have the right to ask what the hell is going on? ...... At least you should say 'I'm sorry'. The car was destroyed and the people were missing, but the other party just said that this is how it happened. ”
Pictured| Yang Jiechi
After this interview, the proportion of those who agree with the US government's apology to China has soared from less than 20% to more than 50%, which is enough to show that Yang Lao is indeed an excellent diplomatic talent who knows the psychology of the United States and is well versed in diplomatic wisdom, and also shows that China is the side that stands on the right side.
After the incident, the Chinese side, from the leaders to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to the people, has taken an extremely tough attitude, and even before the April 4 letter from US Secretary of State Powell, no US official expressed concern about China's missing pilot Wang Wei.
It was not until four days after the plane collision that Bush expressed "regret" rather than "apologies" in his speech about the destruction of China's military plane and the disappearance of the pilot.
In response on the same day, a spokesman for our Foreign Ministry said: "Welcome President Bush's 'regret' and look forward to a formal apology from the United States." ”
A week after the plane collision, the United States finally found that its obsession with "detaining" 24 crew members with the Chinese side did not work for China.
Pictured| Wang Wei's wife Ruan Guoqin
Finally, on April 8, the U.S. secretary of state acknowledged the fact that the U.S. reconnaissance plane had violated Chinese airspace and apologized; on April 9, the word "sorry" was used again to express "sorry for the loss of a life."
However, others other than Powell still don't seem to think so. On April 6, a letter from Nguyen Kwok Chin, the wife of missing pilot Wang Wei, was sent to George W. Bush.
In the letter, Nguyen Kwok Chin accused the United States of adopting a "cowardly" approach in handling the incident, neither daring to admit that he had made a mistake nor apologizing to Chinese.
On April 9, the US media reported that Bush had replied to the letter, but in Bush's letter, he still only said that he expressed "regret" and "felt sorry" for her, and did not mention the apology at all, whether to the woman who lost her husband or to the Chinese.
On the same day, a senior official of the US Department of Defense also issued a message to justify the collision that "the US reconnaissance plane was in a state of automatic driving", and vaguely said in his statement that "it is not clear whether the reconnaissance plane is turning or flying forward", in order to slander the Chinese side as "bearing" responsibility for the collision accident.
Pictured| the U.S. EP-3E reconnaissance aircraft
The Foreign Ministry spokesperson once again affirmed China's position: If the United States does not apologize, it will be difficult to resolve the incident, and China will be the victim.
Perhaps for the sake of the United States' own "human rights" position, or perhaps it is really feeling the power of public opinion.
Finally, on April 11, the U.S. government's statement to China was no longer full of threats and loftiness, but "regret that China lost a pilot," although the wording was still "U.S. reconnaissance planes collided with Chinese fighters."
At 5:30 p.m. on the same day, the U.S. ambassador to China submitted a letter of apology to the Chinese foreign minister, which was the beginning of the U.S. government's final apology.
China also allowed 24 crew members to leave the country after accepting the apology letter, who took off from Hainan Province the next day at 7:30 a.m.
Pictured| Americans welcome the crew home
Ironically, one of the U.S. military crew members has won the U.S. Highest Aviation Award, the Distinguished Cross in Flight.
The man retired four years later to become an insurance broker, divorced in 2009 due to domestic violence, and in 2013, when he ran for the state Senate, he took out his "medal", but was ridiculed by his opponents, because the computer system of the aircraft was not completely destroyed after the forced landing, and the US military has always suspected that the Chinese side has "borrowed" a lot of technology from it.
It didn't end there.
After the MEMBERS of the US crew "went home," Bush Jr. hardened his rhetoric again, openly opposing the claim that the US reconnaissance plane was the perpetrator.
U.S. media NBC also reported that the U.S. military will resume reconnaissance off the coast of China and dispatch more powerful U-2 reconnaissance aircraft. This kind of behavior of "turning the other cheek and not recognizing people" can also be regarded as a skill necessary for US politicians.
Pictured| U.S. U-2 reconnaissance aircraft
During the Sino-US negotiations on April 18, the US representative threatened the Chinese side to return the US military reconnaissance plane by suspending the meeting, ignoring the Chinese side's proposal to find out the truth and apologize.
Forced to do so, the Chinese side disclosed a large amount of evidence displayed by the Chinese side on the afternoon of April 19, Beijing time, of which the traces of the impact of the US reconnaissance plane were the main ones, which fully proved that the US reconnaissance plane crashed into our fighter.
Ignoring the facts is also the "traditional art ability" of Western politics.
The US side concocted the process of returning the pilots, first promising to suspend reconnaissance flights along the Coast of China, reversing its own claims again after the Two Sides reached an agreement on the dismantling and transportation of the aircraft, and rejecting the Chinese side's proposal of a million DOLLARs for the cost of food and accommodation for crew members and the cost of aircraft transportation, and only willing to pay 34,000 US dollars, which was solemnly rejected by the Chinese side.
This is the end of a not-so-perfect end.
Pictured| us EP-3 electronic reconnaissance aircraft at Lingshui Airport
As far as the balance of power between China and the United States at that time was concerned, China's position was already tough enough, although in the end we suffered a little loss, although we have not received a formal solemn apology so far, but at least the US official, the US secretary of state and others have expressed apologies, which is also an unprecedented behavior for the United States.
In order to achieve this goal, Our President Jiang Zemin, the spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and all others who can speak out have always demanded an apology from the United States, and have not changed because of any pressure, threats, or nonsense from the other side, and only then have they received a letter of apology from the United States.
The balance of power between countries is so important that although our country at that time was listed as an opponent by the United States because of its rapid development and vast land, it had not really become the strength of the United States' opponent.
The United States has become more arrogant in handling international affairs since the end of the Cold War, often interfering in the internal affairs of other countries without the consent of the United Nations Security Council, and sometimes not even putting on a skin of justice, such as the brazen invasion of Kosovo in 1999.
The picture | a recent photo of the scenery of Kosovo
From this point of view, after concocting the "China threat theory" and creating a "major enemy" for itself, it is not surprising that the United States will use the military method to directly and rudely test China, which was not yet strong at that time.
Chinese people are consistent in their protection of their territory and sovereignty over themselves.
New China, which had just been founded in 1950, dared to send troops across the Yalu River to defeat the invincible United States and defend its homeland security.
In 1989, when Comrade Xiaoping met with Nixon, who was not yet president, he said that "the United States should take the initiative to end the past."
During the plane collision incident, President Jiang Zemin also once again stressed that "the development of Sino-US relations must be based on the three Sino-US joint communiques and the basic norms governing international relations."
Photo | Comrade Xiaoping
In this plane collision incident, the Chinese side took a reasonable and well-founded attitude, and in the process of returning the reconnaissance plane in the follow-up process, it was also courteous and conceded while adhering to its position.
Although the results were not 100 percent in line with our expectations, it was still a successful diplomatic case.
Diplomacy has always proved to be based on strength. In the recent Sino-US Alaska negotiations, Yang Jiechi, who used a metaphor on CNN television to cleverly illustrate the problem and win the support of the American people, took a much tougher attitude.
Twenty years later, The 51-year-old Yang Lao, who is now 71 years old, has witnessed the rise of China in his diplomatic career and witnessed China's diplomacy step by step becoming confident.
I believe that when Elder Yang looks back on his diplomatic career, he will also feel the same as we do now at the tremendous changes in China in recent decades.
Thirteen years after the Sino-US plane collision incident, the same Reconnaissance Plane from the South China Sea is also a reconnaissance plane from the US Military; the difference is that this time it took off to meet the US Military's domestically made heavy fighter jets, and the US Reconnaissance Plane never dared to crash into The Chinese fighter plane this time.
However, No. 81192 could not come back, nor could martyr Wang Wei.
But generations of Air Force people, generations of diplomats, generations of ordinary people who have grown up, how fortunate to witness the rise of China, how fortunate to be able to tell the martyrs every year at the time of Qingming: Guarding our homes, there is no need to use such a tragic way as colliding with a plane!
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