In a sign that public pressure may be building on Bush to find a resolution, a poll showed a majority of Americans view the 24-member U.S. crew detained after their plane collided with a Chinese fighter 10 days ago as "hostages."

There did not appear to be any significant progress toward a diplomatic breakthrough, with China continuing to insist on a U.S. apology for the incident over the South China Sea which Washington has so far refused to make.

"This administration is doing everything we can to end the stalemate in an efficient way. We're making the right decisions to bring (it) to an end," Bush told reporters. "Diplomacy sometimes takes a little longer than people would like."

The U.S. EP-3 surveillance plane collided with a Chinese F-8 fighter over the South China Sea on April 1 and, badly damaged, made an emergency landing on China's Hainan Island. The Chinese fighter pilot is missing and presumed dead.

The U.S. ambassador to China, Joseph Prueher, did not have any meetings with the Chinese in Beijing on Tuesday but the U.S. State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said he was "ready to see the Chinese again, any time, any day, 24 hours a day, whenever they're ready to continue these discussions."

The White House said contacts continued at other levels and said it was trying to strike a "delicate balance" between giving diplomacy time to bring the crew back and seeing U.S.-Chinese relations harmed if the 10-day standoff drags on.

MEDIATION OFFER DECLINED

The White House politely rebuffed an offer by Rev. Jesse Jackson, the civil rights leader and former U.S. Democratic presidential candidate, to try to broker a solution, saying it preferred using regular government contacts.

While expressing regret and sorrow for the loss of the Chinese pilot, U.S. officials have refused to apologize for the collision because they do not believe it was their fault.

After declining to talk about how the collision occurred, U.S. officials this week said the Chinese jet was making its third pass near the slower U.S turboprop when they collided.

One U.S. official said on Tuesday there were indications the EP-3 was on autopilot when the planes collided, suggesting it was unlikely to have made any sudden moves that could have triggered a collision.

A senior U.S. official refused to hazard a guess as to how long the standoff may last. "Everybody wants to stay away from any kind of time line," the official said. "We're all hopeful this is a matter of days, not weeks, but you can't predict."

The official said U.S. and Chinese officials were discussing the text of a letter in which the United States might express regret for the fact that its plane landed on Hainan Island without asking permission, but not an apology.

"It would be an expression of regret and sorrow that they were not able to do it (request permission before landing) but it was an in extremis situation," he said. "What the Chinese will choose to characterize as an apology we would probably choose to characterize as an expression of regret or sorrow."

AMERICANS SEE CREW AS "HOSTAGES"

U.S. public opinion runs against an apology.

A new USA Today/CNN/Gallup poll found that 55 percent of Americans considered the crew to be "hostages" and that 54 percent believe Washington should not bow to China's demand for an apology in a standoff.

The survey of 1,025 adults found about 68 percent believed the United States was not at fault in the incident, which has forced Bush to concentrate on foreign policy in the key first 100 days of his presidency when he had hoped focus on getting his tax cut through Congress and other domestic priorities.

Pentagon spokesman Adm. Craig Quigley said the crew members were officially designated "detainees". He rejected the word "hostages", which he said implied they were being held without contact and were not well treated, which was not the case.

The U.S. military attache in China met the crew for a fifth time on Tuesday, bringing them e-mail from their families, talking about sports, and afterwards declaring them to be "in superb condition."

The attache, Neal Sealock, said the crew had been given additional privileges at the military guest house where they are detained and were allowed to move around more freely in the building and to exercise. Some of the U.S. crew have been given cigarettes.

(Agencies 04/11/2001)