In an interview with Xinhua, Jiang said that the US government has sent a letter to the Chinese side to say "very sorry" for the incident of a US military reconnaissance plane ramming into and destroying a Chinese military aircraft.

"Out of humanitarian consideration, the Chinese government has decided to allow the US crew to leave China," Jiang said, before ending his state visit to Uruguay.

"Yet the incident has not been fully settled," he stressed. "We hope that the US side will adopt a serious attitude toward China's standpoint on the incident and handle it properly."

Jiang said he had noted on many occasions that the development of Sino-US relations is not only in the common interests of both nations but also vital for peace and prosperity in the Asian- Pacific region and the whole world.

"The development of Sino-US ties should be based on the three joint Sino-US communiques and the basic norms governing international relations. Only in this way can bilateral problems be properly solved," Jiang added.

(People's Daily 04/12/2001)