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U.S. Says No to Million Dollar Tab from China Voice of America, July 8, 2001 U.S. officials say they have no intention of paying a million-dollar bill submitted by China for costs incurred by a downed U.S. spy plane and its crew. State Department officials said Friday that the charges were exaggerated and that the two sides would get together to discuss compensation. The rejection came a day after Pentagon spokesman Rear Admiral Craig Quigley said Washington was prepared to pay what he termed reasonable support costs in connection with the return of an EP-3 surveillance plane. The bill included expenses incurred by the U.S. navy crew who were detained on Hainan island for 11 days after the plane collided with a Chinese fighter jet on April 1. Also included were charges for the recovery operation for the Chinese pilot lost at sea after the collision. One senior official says of the Chinese bill, "It's nice to know they have a sense of humor." This official tells reporters the United States will be responding in the same spirit that China presented it. China refused to let U.S. workers repair the aircraft and fly it off Hainan Island. Instead the plane was disassembled and flown out in parts. A chartered Russian cargo plane carried the disassembled surveillance plane to a Lockheed Martin plant near Atlanta, Georgia, Thursday. Navy officials say the plane may be re-assembled and returned to service or the parts may be used in other aircraft.
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