On April 1st, 2001, an unexpected and dramatic incident took place above Hainan Island, a tropical paradise found in the South China Sea. A collision between a US spy plane and a Chinese fighter resulted in the death of a Chinese pilot and the capture of over a dozen US airmen.
This event sparked an intense diplomatic crisis between the United States and China, as both countries struggled to navigate the complex political and legal implications of the incident. With high stakes and global attention, the Hainan Island Incident became a pivotal moment in the relationship between the two world powers, raising questions about sovereignty, international law, and military strategy.
Playing a Dangerous Game
There have been so many close calls over the last few decades that it’s sometimes genuinely surprising WW3 hasn’t broken out. One of the closest in recent years was perhaps the Hainan Island incident of April 1, 2001.
On this day a United States Navy EP-3E ARIES II signals intelligence aircraft (a spy plane) collided mid-air with a J-8II interceptor fighter jet of the People’s Liberation Army Navy (a Chinese fighter plane). Unsurprisingly this crash resulted in a major international dispute between the US and China.
The US spy plane was flying around 70 miles (110km) outside of the island of Hainan and around 100 miles (160km) away from the Paracel Islands, both of which are Chinese territories, when it was intercepted by two Chinese fighters.
The planes drifted too close to each other and the EP-3 crashed into one of the much smaller Chinese fighter jets. Sadly, the Chinese fighter jet went into the sea and its pilot, Wang Wei, was never recovered. The EP-3 on the other hand was badly damaged and was forced to make an emergency landing on the island of Hainan, without permission from the Chinese.
While the US and China weren’t enemies, they also weren’t exactly best friends either. Both sides have a history of provoking each other and playing games of chicken close to each other’s airspace. Any US plane having to land on Chinese soil unannounced would be a disaster. But a spy plane? That’s a worst-case scenario.
As soon as the US plane landed its crew set out to destroy as much sensitive equipment and data as they could. Protocol stated nothing must fall into Chinese hands.
After around 15 minutes Chinese soldiers arrived and began pointing their guns through the plane’s windows and shouting at the US crew through bullhorns. Once the Americans began cooperating the Chinese offered them water and cigarettes before escorting them to some military barracks at Lingshui.
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As it turned out, the US airmen were relatively well looked after by their Chinese hosts. Besides almost constant interrogations that disrupted their sleep, the Americans were well-fed and offered English-language newspapers and playing cards to keep themselves entertained.
They even ended up on relatively good terms with their Chinese guards, with one of them quizzing the Americans about the lyrics of the song “Hotel California”. In total, the 24 crew members of the US spy plane were detained by the Chinese for 10 days.
Who Was to Blame?
Unsurprisingly, both sides blamed the other for the incident. The Chinese and their allies of course blamed the US, while the Americans blamed the Chinese. As with most things it wasn’t quite so clear cut.
The US put the crash down to bad flying on the Chinese side. Chinese interceptors had a reputation for flying aggressively and the Americans claimed the Chinese fighter had bumped the wing of the American’s much larger, slower, and less maneuverable plane.
Upon his return home the pilot of the American plane, Lt. Shane Osborn, put out a statement explaining that his plane had been on autopilot and in “straight-and-level flight” at the time of the collision. The US argument was basically that their plane had been minding its own business and flying normally. There was no way that their plane’s autopilot would have veered into the path of the Chinese plane.
The Chinese disagreed. They said, quoting Wang Wei’s wingman, that the American plane had “veered at a wide angle towards the Chinese”. Essentially they stated that the Americans had rammed the smaller Chinese jet.
So, what’s the truth? Well, the US released video footage from previous missions which revealed that American reconnaissance crews had been intercepted by Chinese planes in a similar manner before. The Chinese, on the other hand, refused to release data from the flight records of their aircraft to back up their accusations. This didn’t do them many favors in terms of the international response to their version of events.
In reality, blame can be attributed to both sides. It seems likely that the actual collision was down to the actions of the Chinese pilots at the behest of their commanders. Both Chinese and Russian pilots have well-deserved reputations for extremely bold flying when intercepting, or harassing western planes.
At the same time, the western powers aren’t innocent. The Americans knew full well that their flying so close to Chinese air space (and within air space that the Chinese disputedly claimed to be theirs) was like a red rag to a bull. When both sides are determined on riling up the other, tragic mistakes are always likely to happen.
How was a Crisis Averted?
The situation looked dire. Not only did the Chinese have a dead pilot to make themselves look like the victims, but they had 24 American crew members in custody and goodness knows how much sensitive intelligence from the wreckage of the plane. Things looked bad for America.
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To attempt to smooth things over, the United States Ambassador, Joseph Prueher, delivered what is now known as the “Letter of the two sorries” to the Chinese foreign minister, Tang Jiaxuan. The letter resulted in the release of the American crew as well as the eventual return of what was left of the spy plane.
The letter said that the Americans were “very sorry” for the death of the Chinese pilot as well as being “very sorry” that the aircraft had entered Chinese airspace and had landed without clearance. Or at least that’s what the Chinese claimed.
Amazingly, it soon turned out that the two sides couldn’t agree on what the letter said. Soon after the event the Chinese had demanded an apology and the Americans had refused, stating, “We did not do anything wrong, and therefore it was not possible to apologize”. The Americans claimed their letter was an expression of regret and sorrow, not an apology.
The Chinese, however, told the world that the letter was an apology, making it look like the Americans had backed down and accepted fault. In the end, the Americans tried to shrug the whole thing off with one official remarking, “What the Chinese will choose to characterize as an apology, we would probably choose to characterize as an expression of regret or sorrow”. Very diplomatic.
Either way, both sides got their way. America got its plane and crew back and China got to leave a little egg on America’s face. Crisis averted.
A Peaceful Resolution This Time
In the aftermath, both sides were criticized. Some felt the Americans had backed down too quickly and hadn’t been oppositional enough. Others felt that since a Chinese pilot had lost his life the United States’ initial response could have been more sensitive.
On the other side, Chinese authorities were criticized for looking weak. They had 24 American prisoners and an American spy plane in their hands and exchanged them for a simple letter of apology. Many felt the Chinese could have negotiated for much more.
These critics missed the bigger picture though. Despite the constant saber-rattling, both the Americans and Chinese knew this wasn’t the right time for a major falling out. The Americans ate a slice of humble pie and the Chinese had enough sense not to rub it in.
In doing so both sides avoided a potentially much more serious crisis. Common sense prevailed, for once.
Top Image: A US Lockheed EP-3 similar to the one which was forced to land in Chinese territory in what became known as the Hainan Island Incident. Source: US Navy / Public Domain.
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