It has now been four days since a U.S. spy plane and a Chinese fighter collided over the South China Sea. The incident was undoubtedly an accident and a regrettable one: though the U.S. crew made an emergency landing on Hainan Island and thankfully escaped injury, the Chinese pilot is presumed lost at sea. However, an incident that could have been addressed with propriety by both sides has instead degenerated into a serious diplomatic incident, and both the U.S. and the Chinese government should take immediate steps to heal the wounds opened by the crash.

Yesterday’s statement of regret on the loss of the Chinese pilot issued by Secretary of State Colin Powell was welcome and appropriate. A formal apology before the facts are gathered would have been a disservice to the American crew. But the statement should have come days earlier, as soon as the Chinese pilot was listed as missing. The U.S. should attempt to make up for its laxity by offering its aid in any search for the wreckage and communicating its regret directly to the pilot’s family.

At the same time, China’s calls for a formal apology and both countries’ attempts to shift blame for the collision have been fruitless and counterproductive. No public interviews of the American crew have been conducted, and it will be impossible to interview the Chinese pilot or examine the damage to his plane. Furthermore, China should cease its accusations that the U.S. violated its sovereignty. According to the American military, the crash took place above waters that the U.S. holds to be international and to which China’s claim is not widely recognized.

President George W. Bush is rightfully upset that American diplomats were not allowed immediate, unconditional access to the 24 crew members of the downed plane. China has no right to quarantine these American soldiers or prevent diplomatic officials from speaking with them. As foreigners forced to make an emergency landing, they should be treated respectfully and returned promptly. China’s reluctance to release the crew exacerbates what might otherwise have been a minor incident.

China has most likely detained the crew to obtain more time to pick apart the advanced Navy plane piece by piece. Self-righteous exhortations from the administration about “sovereign territory” notwithstanding, when advanced technology happens to fall out of the sky, it is common practice for nations to take advantage of the opportunity. The U.S. would surely have seized a similar chance; in fact, the last time America managed to get its hands on a sunken Russian submarine, it investigated the ship thoroughly. Though it is unfortunate that military secrets might be lost, nothing can be done now, and we can only hope that the crew destroyed as much sensitive equipment as it could.

However, we are very concerned that China’s interest in the plane has led it to postpone the crew’s return to U.S. soil. China has advanced no satisfying explanation for effectively holding American servicemen and women prisoner. U.S. officials should be given unlimited access to the crew, and efforts to return them (and the plane as well) must begin immediately. The Bush administration has set no deadline for the crew’s return, but they could have been returned to their base in Japan within 24 hours had the Chinese government wished.

We trust and hope that this incident will be resolved soon and will not result in further tension between the U.S. and China. At this time, the Bush administration should focus on getting the crew returned and improving America’s deteriorating relations with China. A more cooperative approach by both sides, on this incident as well as more long-term issues, would go a long way towards accomplishing that goal.