The US Secretary of State, Mr Colin Powell, yesterday expressed regret at the death of a Chinese pilot in the weekend mid-air collision with a US spy plane. Appearing to go some way towards a response to the Chinese demand for an apology, Mr Powell said: "We regret that the Chinese plane did not get down safely and we regret the loss of the life of that Chinese pilot but now we need to move on and we need to bring this to a resolution."
Mr Powell's comment was seen as an attempt to meet the Chinese half way in the hope that they may now release the 24 US crew still being held on Chinese territory.
China's Washington embassy described Mr Powell's statement as a "very important" step. The White House had earlier made it clear that the US would not be willing to apologise for the incident. It also ruled out ending offshore US surveillance flights
Mr Powell later met Chinese Ambassador Mr Yang Jiechi to discuss the diplomatic deadlock but no breakthrough emerged.
A senior State Department official said Mr Yang and Mr Powell agreed to continue discussions but the ambassador had brought neither new proposals nor a considered response to Mr Powell's expression of regret at the pilot's death.
The Chinese ambassador said he had reiterated his government's position that the US was fully responsible for the crash and should apologise.