The US and China finally averted a collision course when Washington sent a letter expressing regret and saying "sorry" and Beijing released the 24 crew members of the EP-3 spy plane that collided on April 1 with a Chinese fighter jet.
The US letter has given China the face it needed, while the US got its 24 servicepeople back and continued to stand firm on not apologizing for its reconnaissance activities.
Faced with such an incident so soon after coming to office, the Bush administration has demonstrated that it is capable of coordinating teamwork and managing a crisis. For Bush, this "China drill" marked a farewell to the election campaign world and entry into a "China threat" reality. Its exchanges and dialogues with China during the standoff could prove to be valuable experience for the new US government.
First of all, the Bush administration got a taste of the Chinese culture of "face" and semantic traps. From the very beginning, China had reached a conclusion that the US was in the wrong and therefore should apologize. During the negotiations, Beijing tried to use the detained crew and Chinese nationalistic sentiments to soften up the US. After the Bush administration expressed regret verbally and on paper, China loudly declared a victory through its state-controlled media.
But a closer look at the US letter reveals China's old trick of "one `sorry,' different interpretations." China only managed to get a hollow apology, but what really concerns Beijing is the US reconnaissance activities, an issue that was left to be discussed later, with a meeting set for April 18. After seeing how China behaved in this incident, perhaps the Bush administration can better understand why Taiwan has painfully stood firm on not accepting the "one China" principle.
Next, China used "asymmetric warfare" tactics to the full. In fact, the US had quite a few bargaining chips on hand -- not giving PNTR status to China, boycotting both China's WTO entry and Beijing's bid to host the 2008 Olympic Games. But since the plane's crew was in Chinese hands, the US was unable to play any of these cards due to humanitarian concerns.
China's rise in the international arena is an undeniable reality. However, Beijing remains totally oblivious to international trade and economic rules even as it is poised to enter the WTO. Similarly, the collision incident shows that China remains unfamiliar with the rules of interaction, even as it emerges as a new regional power in Asia.
The US has followed international regulations in its dealings with China, but Beijing has chosen to play by its own rules, giving Washington a hard time. How to get the testosterone-fuelled adolescent known as China to learn some international manners so that he will not become a threat to everyone, is an important task facing the US and the rest of the world.
Even though China has released the US crew, the two sides will have more chances to haggle, barter and play sleight-of-hand tricks and verbal wordgames at the bilateral negotiations next week and when the arms sales talks between the US and Taiwan are held at the end of the month. The US should be on guard about the possibility of China linking the EP-3 incident to the arms sales. By its hostile behavior during the incident, China has proven that it is not a strategic partner of the US, but a full-blown diplomatic and military competitor.
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