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 WARN WARNING: TOPIC+ INTERNATIONAL POLITICAL, MILITARY, URGENT
 SERI SERIAL:     CPP21dg11d4fT3Agi1B83
 PASS PASS:       ATTN WIRE SELECT
 COON COUNTRY+ CHINA, TAIWAN, UNITED STATES
 SUBJ SUBJ+       TAKE 1 OF 2--Taiwan Reports on Collision of US Plane, PRC
 Jet
 SOUR 50URCE:     Taipei Chung-Kuo Shlh-Pao In Chinese g3 Apr B1 p 11
 TEXT TEXTe
 [*S ecTal topTc? report]
 [FB~S Translated Text]      The coilTslon of a ?Chinese? jet and
 a US plane over the sea near Hainan Island has treated a tra edyy
 with one craft damaged and one lost, and is a most serious a~faTr
 in farms of relations between the two nations. Judging from
 materials coming from various sources, this collision was a pure
 accident, and there is no possibility of intent. The idea of one
 side playing with fire Ts evenimore remote, and the most likely
 explanation is that the whole thing is an accident caused by a
 t~chnologTcal mistake caused by insufficiency to the tacit mutual
 understandings between the two~sTdes. In the future, the key point
 which may impact relation  between China and the US is not the
 collision itself, but rater the timeframe and mariner in which the
 Chinese hand over the plane and crew.
 Anyone who has some concept of what aviation Ts will know that
 when an airplane Ts flying at high speeds and hits a bird, the
 results are unimaginable. How much more so must tt be then when an
 American EP-3 recotmaissance plane flying at 7t1l1 mph and a PRC
 AP'ROYED FOR RELEASE.
 DATElULY1/Y
 000779628
 Jian-8 flying at l,ABA plus mph. Such a collision Ts truly awesome..
 Some anatyseS say that the PRC fighter intentionally struck the
 American craft, thinking to force the US plane to land on Chinese
 soil. Some people also say that'the American plane made a sudden
 turn toward the Jlan-8 as though Tt were a bicycle moving forward
 of Its own volition. It t5 difficult to grasp the distances at
 which fighter planes pass at high speeds, where a tiny slip can
 mean a crash and death to the crew. No one gains an advantage from
 this. And this 1s not wartime, and there is no reason to make a
 sacrifice of oneself. Consequently, there Ts no case for an
 intentional crash.
 The most probable situation is that the Jian-8 was harassing9
 the EP-3 from below, and as a result Tts altitude dropped. The EP-3'
 dipped itS nose suddenly. and the Jtan-8 immediately darted away,
 but hit the other plane throe    clumsy emergency moves. In the
 flash of an a e, it lost its ~ilance and plummeted into the sea.
 The EP-3 was leaking a large g?antTty of oil at this time and was
 forted to seek aid at the nearest air base.
 In reality, US military recomra.issance planes have been fl tng
 over the sea on a Itne from X1#ha to Hainan, following the border
 of PRC airspace for more than a decade. The PRC fighter was doing
 what they normally did, doing necessary survetliance and
 interception and even driving the plane away, all in accordance
 with the customary practices of fnternattonal accords. A little
 confrontation -- you chase me end I tall yyou -- had never caused an
 accident in the past. Looking at the incident from the viewpoint of
 PRC fighter interception procedures and the demands of coordination
 with war technology on the g9round, no reason exists for
 intentionally taunting the AmefTcan plane.
 The Jian-8 fighter plane is the PRC 's new domestically
 produced, high-speed, all-weather fT~hter plane. It is principally
 used in defending air rights on the front line of battle, and can
 also carry out air-to-ground attacks. In 1992, the PRC navy and air
 forte organized a Jian-8 squad, patrolling for the first time at
 XTsha, and over the subsequent eight years of exercises and
 training this squad has become,a set fighter squadron, and is said
 to be the PRC 's male fighter pplane to terms of air and sea power.
 The pilots on patrol on the Il~ne between Xtsha and Hainan Island
 are mostly old hands who are capable of flying to any weather. No
 one would anticipate any problem occurring.
 In terms of the interception procedure, when PRC radar
 *dtscoverS an unidentified flyt'ngg ob ect nearing PRC airspace, the
 naval air forces dispatch two Jtan-~s to intercept, with tower
 p~ersomtel Tn charge of directing. Everything is done by the book.
 When the alien plane is sighted, the Jian-8 lead plane on duty
 g~~~s the order to the wingman to reduce altitude, and to first get
 Into the best position for suryetllance Photographs under the
 foreiggn plane to interfere with it. The lead plane then flies
 parallel and close to the foreign plane, following tactics from the
 ground coordinator, and maintains close formation with the foreign
 plane.
 Under the stipulations of the accords of international law, if
 a plane T5 flying over the open sea, both sides must maintain an
 on-alert space of 3gH by 31dg meters above and below and on both
 sides. The PRC fighter planes also operate under these regulations.
 But the problem is that if a foreign plane still wants to get
 closer to PRC airspace, then the Jian-8 procedure Ts to follow
 commands from the ground to sidde horizontally past the foreign
 plane from above.   This Ts the way two fighter planes ?warn? each
 other without overdoing tt. Then t at Jian-8 returns to its
 two-plane formation and continues to watch the foreiggn plane. Under
 normal conditions, when the foreign plane sees the Jfan-8 fighter's
 maneuver, it persists for a mognen  or two more and then withdraws.
 This is a tacit agreement between the two.
 Hut why did a pproblem occur with this routine maneuver? Some
 analyses say that it is possible that the Chinese crew were having
 technical problems.   Others say that the ?Chinese?-US relationship
 has worsened of late, and that-the PRC pilots had something of an
 emotional response and piloted the craft in an inappropriate way.
 In actuality. this is not very likely because PRC pilots are not
 only old, seasoned hands, but every move they make including their
 approach angle and their airspeed and altitude are all controlled
 by gground commands; the pilots might feel emotional, but that
 wourdn't be reflected in their flying. Moreover, the most common
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