About 30 young people brandished banners and shouted slogans as they marched to the US consulate in the territory, demanding the US express regret for the intrusion of its plane into Chinese territory.

"We want the US government to apologize for the incident," said a spokeswoman for the Federation of New Territories Youth, calling the American action "provocative".

Their protest prompted the US consulate to close for an hour, affecting dozens of people waiting to apply for visas.

In the statement, the group, which represents 16 other youth groups, also demanded the United States explain why its aircraft entered Chinese territory.

"We demand the US government pay the loss in this accident," the group said. They attempted to hand in a petition but it was not accepted by consular officials.

The protests followed demonstrations by members of the Federation of Trade Unions on Monday.

The US navy surveillance plane staged an emergency landing at Lingshui aiport on Hainan island in the South China Sea on Sunday.

One of the F-8s crashed and neither the plane nor its pilot have been found.

Similar protests broke out in Hong Kong towards the United States following the US-led NATO bombing of the Chinese embassy in Belgrade in May 1999.

So far, no such activities have taken place on the mainland, despite harsh anti-American sentiment on Chinese Internet chatrooms.

Chinese President Jiang Zemin on Tuesday said the United States should bear full responsibility for the collision.

(Agencies 04/03/2001)