>
> > The Chinese side of the story has changed somewhat today. The other
> > Chinese pilot has been somewhat dis-credited by the Chinese media for
> > not telling the complete story.
>
> Like saying that _he_ gave the downed pilot permission to bail out?
> Since when does wing give lead permission to do anything (the usual
> job of wing is to tuck in tight, shut up and listen to guard) -- or
> was the surviving pilot lead, in which case what was the wingman doing
> in a position where the only way he could collide with the Aires
> would have been if the Aires went into Beta thrust?
The report in this morning's paper here (Hong Kong, note that media
reports here are usually pro China), is that the surviving pilot
asked permission to shoot the US plane down. It did not state
whether this request came before or after the collision. This
request was obviously not granted. It also stated that the surviving
pilot forced the US plane down in Hainan. At the present time the
Chinese media seems to be distancing itself from the pilot's story.
This would indicate the the Chinese leadership is changing its
view of the situation. The pilot was initially good propaganda,
get the locals excited and not thinking about local problems, now
its time to shut him up so he doesn't get in the way.
--
Dr. Mark Green mark_at_cs.ualberta.ca
McCalla Professor (780) 492-4584
Department of Computing Science (780) 492-1071 (FAX)
University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, T6G 2H1, Canada
Received on Mon Apr 09 2001 - 04:29:20 BST