There have been some indications that the crew did destroy the critical software and wipe ther hard drives prior to making the forced landing. They had time to do this and it's what they were trained to do. There's no reason to supose that they didn't do just that.
On the other hand, we would probably do the same thing the Chinese are doing if we were handed such a windfall; strip the plane and learn as much as we could about the other sides intelligence gathering capability.
The Chinese Government can't afford to let this go too long. The US is their major trading partner and they NEED the trade.
The problem lies with the fact that the government and the military are virtually separate entities and the generals are very hard-line. The politicians must tread carefully or they could lose the support of the army.
I believe that the course that Bush seems to have chosen- firm but no deadlines- is the correct one at this time. It gives the Chinese time to work out the internal problems between government and military without either side losing face.
And in China, face is all important. If Seth is still over there, maybe he can comment from inside the country.

troll