US Secretary of State Colin Powell has admitted that the ill-fated US EP-3 surveillance plane did violate China's airspace, and said he was sorry for that.

Appearing on CBS television's "Face the Nation" program Sunday, Powell said: "We do acknowledge that we violated their (China's) airspace, ... And we regret that. We have expressed sorrow for it. And we're sorry that that happened."

The secretary also repeated his regret over the loss of a Chinese pilot in the April 1 spy plane incident. He said that " there is a widow (the wife of missing Chinese pilot Wang Wei) out there, and we regret that. We're sorry that her husband was lost."

While joining TV program "Fox News Sunday," Powell said: "We have expressed regrets and we expressed our sorry, and we are sorry that a life was lost. The only life lost at this point was that of a Chinese pilot. And so I think it's a very proper thing to express our regrets and sorrow over that."

A US EP-3 electronic surveillance plane bumped into a Chinese jet fighter near China's Hainan Island on April 1, causing it to crash into the South China Sea. The damaged US plane made an emergency landing in an airstrip on the island. Wang Wei, the Chinese pilot from the crashed fighter, is still missing.

The Chinese government has made solemn representations with the US side, demanding that Washington bear full responsibility for the incident and apologize to China.

(Xinhua 04/11/2001)