The United States should 'start extracting some punishment' fromChina this weekend if the crew members from a U.S. surveillance planeare not released, House International Relations Committee ChairmanHenry J. Hyde (R-Ill.) told the Chicago Sun-Times Tuesday.
Hyde said the United States should start exercising its options'particularly in the field of economics' to pressure China to swiftlyreturn the crew.
Hyde's comments came as President Bush urged patience in finding adiplomatic solution to the 10-day standoff, which the presidentcalled a 'stalemate' for the first time. 'Diplomacy sometimes takes alittle longer than people would like,' Bush said.
The 24-member crew of the EP-3E surveillance aircraft met withArmy Brig. Gen. Neal Sealock for a fifth time Tuesday. Meanwhile,Bush and Secretary of State Colin Powell declined to take up an offerfrom the Rev. Jesse Jackson to jump into the negotiations-but thedoor was not slammed shut.
Offering hope, China's leader said he was eager to break the spyplane impasse, the Associated Press reported.
'Taking into the account the important role of the two countries,we have to find a solution,' Chinese President Jiang Zemin said at anews conference in Uruguay. 'I trust in the ability of both countriesto resolve this issue.'
Jiang, making a six-nation tour of Latin America, also saidChina's position was 'sufficiently clear' as he stood by earlierdemands that the United States apologize for the incident.
Hyde continued to take a harder public stand than the Bush WhiteHouse. Over the weekend he called the crew members 'hostages' whilethe Pentagon officially refers to them as detainees.
'I would think that if this, the end of this week, this weekend,they haven't returned our personnel, I think we have to startextracting some punishment from them, a price from them,' Hyde said.'And that would be taking a harder line on these economic measures.'
Hyde said Bush could use his power to block China's much-sought-after membership in the World Trade Organization; raise tariffs anddeaden China's bid for the 2008 Olympics.
On another front, China is seeking to discourage the sales of U.S.weapons to Taiwan, currently under review, and Hyde said the Taiwanarms talks should be leveraged. 'I would have kind of visiblenegotiations with Taiwan on some of these defense armaments,' hesaid.
Hyde said U.S. companies doing business in China may exert'tremendous pressure' on the administration not to impose any kind ofeconomic punishment and 'the heaviest pressure would be fromcompanies and commercial interests that are profiting or looking toprofit from China trade. So that is a price we would have to pay ifit comes to where we have to close the spigot.
'But at some point, the checkbook can't rule everything. We have amatter of our national sovereignty and our national pride as well as24 lives at risk.'
There were no significant breakthroughs Tuesday as China continuesto call for an apology for the April 1 collision over the South ChinaSea that downed a China fighter jet and forced the wounded U.S.aircraft to make an emergency landing on China's Hainan island.
State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said there were no newambassador-level meetings in Beijing on Tuesday, though there arediscussions ongoing at lower levels.
Boucher said Sealock and U.S. Consular Section Chief Ted Gongspent about 40 minutes with the crew, who got an update on the latestsports news and local news from Washington state. Chinese officialswere not present.
Boucher said they reported that 'our crew are in very good health,very good spirits. They are being treated well, their morale is highand we have been able to pass to them personal messages.' Anothermeeting is not scheduled, but Boucher said there is a push to seethem again today.
Congress returns from a spring break in two weeks. If the crew isstill being held, Hyde said the diplomacy will become only morecomplicated.
'The picture changes if you go two weeks where our people arelocked up, not free to go, are interred,' he said. 'So I would thinkthere would be lots of inflammatory resolutions in Congress whichwon't make it any easier for China to back down.'
