The United States has made a right move for the secretary of state to express "sorry" for the missing Chinese pilot, presumed dead, but that is inadequate, foreign ministry spokesman Sun Yuxi said Tuesday.

Over the weekend, US Secretary of State Colin Powell said the US Government was "sorry'' for the Chinese fighter pilot who is still missing and feared dead. On April 5, US President Bush also offered his personal regret for the apparent loss of life.

Sun Yuxi made the remarks at a regular briefing and said consultations between the two sides are still ongoing. But he said the problem has not yet been solved, and the two sides need to conduct further consultations.

Sun added that this requires a positive attitude from the US.

"Only if the US side adopts a pragmatic and co-operative approach and takes seriously the Chinese people's request, can this incident be handled properly,'' he said.

The responsibility for the collision rests entirely with the US and it must apologize to the Chinese people and bear the responsibility, said Zhang Wannian, vice-chairman of China's Central Military Commission, when meeting New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark in Wellington on Monday.

Zhang told the prime minister that the Chinese side has been constantly looking for the missing pilot according to President Jiang's instructions.

General Zhang demanded that the United States stop its spy flights along China's coastal areas in order to prevent similar incidents from happening again.

A fifth meeting between US diplomats and the 24 crew members took place in Hainan, Xinhua reported yesterday.

The US side has extended their gratitude to the Chinese side for the arrangement of the meeting.

The crew are in good health and in high spirits, Neal Sealock, defence attache with the US Embassy, told reporters after the meeting.

The crew could reportedly have access to e-mails and read English language newspaper China Daily.

(China Daily 04/11/2001)