Officers and men of the Chinese Naval will continue to do their best to search for Wang Wei, the pilot who parachuted after the collision between his fighter jet and a US spy plane on Sunday morning.

Commander of the Navy Shi Yunsheng made the remarks here Thursday.

Shi said the Chinese Navy dispatched eight planes and seven warships to find Wang Wei this morning.

He added that Chinese President Jiang Zemin is concerned about Wang's safety. Before he left for a Latin American trip, he told Shi that the Chinese Navy should, at all cost, do everything possible to search and rescue Wang.

Shi noted that until 4 pm Thursday, the Chinese Navy had conducted a search and rescue operation for 102 hours, and it used the most advanced equipment to search for Wang round the clock.

The scope of the search is now almost twice that at the beginning, he added. The strong gales and turbulent waves on the sea have made it difficult for the rescue operation.

Sources said that up to now, the Chinese navy has dispatched 74 planes, 42 warships, and over 10,000 servicemen to search for the missing pilot.

(Xinhua 04/05/2001)