Easter break was not only a homecoming for students across the nation, but also for the 24 airmen and women of the U.S. Navy EP-3 that made an emergency lading on the Chinese island of Hainan two weeks ago. Their safe return was the first test of the Bush Administration’s ability to handle an international crisis.
Despite President George W. Bush’s previous international experience consisting of Texas’ relations with Mexico, many view this first incident as an overall success. “The Bush Administration gets an A,” said Timothy Lomperis, Ph.D., chair of the Political Science Department at Saint Louis University.
Lomperis credits this to not ever backing the communist nation into a corner (meaning that only one option would become available), and not using the power of the presidency to complicate the issue.
Bush instead allowed Secretary of State, Colin Powell, and Ambassador, Joseph Prueher to communicate with Chinese Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan.
According to Lomperis, Bush allowing his heads of state to handle the problem, kept the situation on the level of “incident” and not “crisis.”
“When a leader becomes involved, it then becomes a crisis,” Said Lomperis.
Overall President Bush stayed out of the limelight throughout most of the incident. He never spent much time in front of the press, or greeted the pilots when they landed in Hawaii.
“Clinton would have been there in a heartbeat,” said Lomperis, pointing out the drastic differences between the two Presidents.
Lomperis also points out the fact that there was no patriotic campaign ran here to bring the crew home as seen in the past.
“With the Iranian hostage crisis, (Jimmy) Carter urged people to wear yellow ribbons,” said Lomperis.
The focus has now been turned to the retrieval of the EP-3 that crash-landed.
“The Chinese are not obligated to return it,” said Lomperis. “We landed without permission. In the past the U.S. has not returned Russian MIG fighters, or other things.
“Plus the plane is not flyable, and the intelligence has been compromised. The true symbol is the 24 airmen,” he said.
The incident between the Chinese F-8 fighter and U.S. EP-3 electronic surveillance plane is an example of the Chinese Communist Government loosing some control over the PLA (People’s Liberation Army).
Chinese President, Jiang Zemin, had previously assured the U.S. that the practice of “Thumping” would no longer take place with their fighters.
“Thumping” is when the fighters would place the wake from their jet engines in the path of the EP-3, causing the plane to violently shake.
However, when F-8 pilot Wang Wei attempted this, the vertical tail of his jet, reportedly, collided with the EP-3’s left wing and left outside engine.
Past leaders of China have been able to keep better control of the PLA due to the fact that their roots were based in the military, but Zemin’s are based in the Communist Party. This is believed to explain the seemingly reckless nature of the pilots.
One example is in a tape released by military intelligence sources, which show Wei flying dangerously close to other U.S. planes while displaying his e-mail address.
The recent tensions between the two powers began to flare up in 1999 when U.S. forces accidentally bombed the Chinese Embassy in Kosovo.Although the U.S. has offered payments up to $500,000 and offered to rebuild the embassy, it is still a sore spot with the Chinese Government.
The latest events have also caused many to wonder about the feasibility of another cold war.
“It is possible with a couple of more incidents,” said Lomperis. He pointed out though that the current economic status between the nations makes it unlikely to occur.
