A commentary carried by the paper praised the stance of the Chinese government and people on the issue and their demand the US apologize for the incident as a precondition to solve the current Sino-US standoff.

"The Americans tried, from the beginning, to dictate their terms and give their orders as if China were Grenada or a small country shivering and surrendering just because America is raging," the commentary said.

"We, the Arabs, had been humiliated by the Americans. In occupied Palestine, for instance, Israel is attacking the innocent and unarmed Palestinians," it added.

"When the Palestinians revolt against the Israeli aggressions, the US urges them to adopt self-restraint and end violence, blaming them for the daily clashes with the Israeli troops," the commentary noted.

In Iraq, US planes patrolling the no-fly zones continued violations against the sovereignty of an independent country, it said, adding that what really the Americans want is that the Iraqis should not talk about the violations of their sovereignty and that they have no right to defend their homeland, otherwise they are regarded as having endangered the lives of the US pilots.

"Such US policies made us see its ignorance in the field of state sovereignty and national independence," it said.

"The Palestinians and Iraqi people, whose sovereignty and rights are violated, have the right to demand the US to apologize," it concluded.

After the mid-air collision, the damaged US spy plane landed in China's Hainan Island without getting permission from Chinese authorities. The pilot of the downed Chinese jet is still missing.

(People's Daily 04/08/2001)