United States Ambassador to China Joseph Prueher told reporters on April 3 in Beijing said US officials expected to see the crew of an American spy plane stranded in Hainan later in the day.

Prueher's statement confirmed previous remarks by US and Chinese officials that access to the 24-member crew would be granted on Tuesday.

"We had a meeting last night with Assistant Foreign Minister Zhou Wenzhong at the foreign ministry, where he gave us the expectation that we will see the crew this evening, and we are expecting to do that," Prueher told a cluster of reporters just outside the US embassy compound in Beijing.

"We are very pleased that we are going to get to see them tonight, that we expect to see them tonight," he said.

The EP-3 spy plane is at the Lingshui military base in China's southern island province of Hainan after making an emergency landing Sunday following its bumping into a Chinese F-8 fighter jet tracing the spy plane.

"Our first and top priority continues to be for the well-being of the aircrew or access to the aircrew, and also to secure their release," Prueher said.

The spy plane is packed with high-tech monitoring equipment, and US President George W. Bush has demanded its immediate return, a concern repeated by Prueher.

(China Daily 04/03/2001)