China has acted "courageously and wisely" in negotiations with the United States over the mid-air collision incident involving a Chinese fighter jet and a US spy plane over the South China Sea on April 1, Berri said in an interview with Xinhua.

He condemned the U.S. hegemony over other countries, saying "we can see its hegemony in the Middle East, in Europe and in Japan." " But this time in China, it is totally different," he said.

"In the 21st century, China is the only country that could say 'no' to the United States. It is also the only country that could tell the US there is national dignity in the world," Berri said.

"What your government did is to safeguard national dignity, therefore, we support the just action," he told Xinhua.

A US military reconnaissance plane rammed into and caused the destruction of a Chinese military aircraft and the missing of its pilot on April 1 over the South China Sea.

The Chinese government held the U.S. fully responsible for the incident, but it released the 24 U.S. crew members of the plane out of humanitarian considerations after U.S. President George W. Bush Wednesday said he was "very sorry to Chinese people and the family of the missing pilot and "very sorry" for the U.S. plane entering China's airspace and landing without a verbal clearance."

Starting from April 18, China and the US will continue negotiations over the incident, including the cause of the collision, the halt to US reconnaissance activities near the Chinese coastal areas, and the prevention of recurrence of such incidents.

(People's Daily 04/15/2001)