WASHINGTON — President Bush on Monday demanded that China arrange the "prompt and safe return" of 24 U.S. crew members and their plane packed with spy technology, seeking to end a standoff reminiscent of the Cold War.
He said he was dismayed U.S. diplomats had not been given access to the crew after the plane made an emergency landing on the Chinese island of Hainan.
"I'm troubled by the lack of a timely Chinese response to this request for this access," he said on the White House lawn. Bush said failure to comply would be "inconsistent with standard diplomatic practice."
"Our priorities are the prompt and safe return of the crew and the return of the aircraft without further damaging or tampering," he said.
The U.S. plane collided with a Chinese jet fighter early Sunday.
U.S. officials sought to keep Chinese officials from boarding the Navy plane and ordered three Navy destroyers to stay near the island.
At an appearance later Monday with Egypt's president, Bush declined to address reports Chinese officials may have boarded the U.S. jet but said he was sending a "very clear message and I expect them to heed the message." Bush also stated the United States believes its jet was in international airspace, not inside China.
Gen. Henry H. Shelton, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, protested the lack of access to the crew of the turboprop-driven EP-3, which is about the size of a Boeing 737 commercial jetliner.
"Under international law, that should've happened long ago, Shelton said in an interview. "We should have had access." He said it was "hard to imagine" the U.S. plane had initiated the collision.
China blames the U.S. plane for the crash, saying it suddenly veered into one of China's F-8 fighters.
Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said the crew had communicated after the collision to indicate no one was injured, but he said no one has spoken directly to them since they landed on Hainan.
Bush said U.S. officials had been in contact with the Chinese since the incident, which happened Saturday night U.S. time.
He offered assistance in finding the missing Chinese jet, one of two he said were shadowing the American plane when the collision happened. "Our military stands ready to help."
Chinese representatives have told U.S. officials the crew is safe, deputy White House spokesman Scott McClellan said.
The U.S. destroyers happened to have stopped at Hong Kong en route home from the Persian Gulf when the EP-3 was forced to land, two officials said.
The destroyers will remain in the area indefinitely instead of resuming their journey home, the officials said.
Bush discussed the incident Monday with his national security team, including Secretary of State Colin Powell, Rumsfeld and Condoleezza Rice, the national security adviser to the president.
A senior U.S. Navy admiral said Monday that Chinese officials have no right to board the U.S. plane.
Adm. Dennis Blair, commander in chief of the U.S. Pacific Command, said the plane, which contains sensitive cryptological and other electronic surveillance equipment, is considered sovereign territory, similar to an embassy.
"We physically cannot prevent the Chinese from boarding the plane," he said on ABC's "Good Morning America."
"What protects the plane really is the concept of sovereign immunity."
Standard procedure under the circumstances would call for the EP-3 crew to destroy as much of the plane's highly sensitive surveillance equipment as possible once it landed on Chinese territory, said another U.S. official.
One official said that shortly after the collision the crew sent two messages — one to indicate no one aboard had been injured in the collision and another to indicate the plane had landed safely.
American officials say they don't know if Chinese officials have boarded the plane since it made the emergency landing.
"Our primary objective now is to get in touch with our people and ensure they are OK and get them back," Blair said. Fixing the plane and getting it back "is our second order of business here."
U.S. officials say the surveillance plane was on a routine mission when it was intercepted by two Chinese F-8 fighters. The Chinese plane's pilot is missing.
Blair said that without talking to the crew, U.S. officials won't know who was responsible for the collision.
"But I can tell you the rules of international air space are that the smaller, faster aircraft has the responsibility for staying clear of the larger, slower aircraft," he said. "And I know from practice that our aircraft like the EP-3 fly straight and level with great care."
The Chinese jet is smaller.
Blair said he has no doubt the plane was in international air space when the collision occurred.
The incident follows an increase in tensions between the United States and China. China has been concerned about new arms sales to Taiwan, which China considers its own territory. Washington has protested the arrest of two scholars linked to the United States.
Blair said China has become more aggressive in maneuvering around U.S. surveillance planes in recent months. The United States discussed safety concerns with China in December, he said.
"As (Sunday's) events showed, our concerns were justified," he said.
On the Net: The Navy plane: www.navy.mil/homepages/vx-1/ep3.htm