How the U.S. and China Can Step Back From the ‘Precipice’
Soldiers during a military parade celebrating the 90th anniversary of the founding of the Chinese People's Liberation Army in China’s Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region in 2017.
Photographer: Xinhua/Wu Xiaoling
On April 1, 2001, a U.S. EP3 intelligence aircraft collided with a Chinese fighter jet near the southern Chinese island of Hainan. The Chinese plane crashed, killing the pilot. Using extraordinary skill, the American pilot managed to nurse his plane to a Chinese airfield, landing with no flaps, no trim, no airspeed indicator—and one engine disabled.
But perhaps the greater miracle was the way the ensuing diplomatic crisis was defused. To get the 24 American crew members released, U.S. diplomats finessed what came to be known as a “letter of the two sorries.” The document said the U.S. was “very sorry” for the death of the Chinese pilot, and “very sorry” its plane entered Chinese airspace illegally.