St. Louis Post-Dispatch

April 5, 2001

Re: "China tries to exploit plane incident"

To the Editor:

    It is unfortunate that the Chinese are still holding the crew of the EP-3 surveillance plane that had to land in China after a collision with a Chinese fighter. The United States has warned the Chinese that, by holding the crew and boarding the plane, they were committing acts that violated international laws.

    We see from this incident that the Chinese regard the United States as a competiter - their potential enemy, rather than a partner. They don't like the American presence in the Far East or the sale of defensive weapons to Taiwan to enable it to thwart a Chinese invasion.

    History tells us that the communists like to hit the weakest spot if they have the opportunity. This is borne out in the EP-3 incident, when the Chinese think they can hold the crew hostage and demand a high price from the
United States - even to abandon its longtime policy of helping and equipping Taiwan.

    We certainly hope the crew will be released safely soon without President George W. Bush  promising anything to China in return. As to the EP-3 Plane, we can forget about it.

Kun T. Liao