A spokesman for the Chinese Ministry of National Defense Wednesday voiced China's indignation and condemnation over the act of a US surveillance plane causing a Chinese fighter jet to crash Sunday.

The spokesman said the US side "must bear full responsibility for the incident" and China reserves the right to lodge further representations for its losses inferred by the US side.

On the morning of April 1, a US electronic reconnaissance plane flew over the southeast waters off China's Hainan Island, the spokesman said.

At 08:36 Beijing time, when finding that the US plane was conducting surveillance over the offshore waters of the city of Sanya, two Chinese F-8 fighters took off and exercised routine tracking and monitoring of the US plane, he said.

At 09:07, the course of the Chinese planes was at 110 degrees, and the US plane was flying 400 meters to the right, parallel to the Chinese planes, which were flying in the same direction, the spokesman said.

The US plane made a sudden movement towards the Chinese planes which were closer to the Chinese mainland. The US plane's nose and left wing rammed the tail of one of the Chinese planes, causing it to lose control and plunge into the sea, the spokesman said.

The pilot, Wang Wei, parachuted from his stricken plane, while the other Chinese plane returned safely and landed at 09:23, he said.

At 09:33, the US plane entered Chinese territorial airspace without approval, and landed at Lingshui Airport in Hainan. The 24 crew members aboard the US surveillance plane were all unharmed. The Chinese side made proper arrangements for the 24 crew members, in a spirit of humanitarianism, the spokesman stated.

He said the Chinese side sent ships and vessels to search for and rescue the pilot, who parachuted out of the plane, in the sea areas immediately after the incident Sunday morning. Up to the small hours of April 4, China had already sent a total of 48 planes and 29 vessels to search for the missing pilot. However, the whereabouts of the pilot is still unknown. Efforts to search for the pilot are still continuing.

US military surveillance planes have made frequent spy flights in the sea areas close to China for many years, the spokesman said. "It is entirely justified and in line with international laws for Chinese fighter jets to track and monitor those US planes," the spokesman said.

He said the immediate cause of the collision lies in the violation of flight rules by the US plane, which made sudden and big movement to veer towards the Chinese plane.

"We are concerned about the whereabouts of our missing pilot, and will continue to exert our utmost efforts to search for and rescue him," he concluded.

(Xinhua 04/04/2001)