Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhu Bangzao said Tuesday China has full right to inspect the US surveillance plane, which bumped into and destroyed a Chinese military fighter jet and landed at an airport in South China's Hainan on Sunday morning without permission from the Chinese side.

Zhu told a routine news conference in Beijing: "Some people say that the American airplanes are American assets and American territory. But how has the American territory moved to the Chinese land?"

He affirmed that international law is applicable to all countries in the world. The US surveillance plane is not an ordinary aircraft, but a military plane intruding into Chinese airspace and landing at a Chinese military airport without approval from the Chinese side. In line with relevant Chinese and international laws, the Chinese Government has full right to investigate the incident, Zhu said.

Commenting on whether China had sent technical personnel to conduct a technical inspection of the American plane, Zhu said that what the American plane did is an infringement upon Chinese sovereignty, and therefore, there is nothing to do with diplomatic immunity and China has every right to inspect the plane.

He reiterated that the US side has violated international laws and the consensus made between China and the US in May 2000.

(chinadaily 04/03/2001)