I agree Mc Grath, the Chinese should appologise to the family of the pilot for casuing his needless death (presuming he is dead).

There certaily is a huge difference between a pilot defecting from one cold war partner to another. I started my discussion by saying that we have NOT been experienceing cold war behaviour between the US and China, until now. The point is, this is a cold war act. The US did NOT violate any rules that are accepted by the rest of the world standards, and is China insists on taking the course they are on, they are perpetuating their place as a country that will not respect the rules of the rest of the world. They are choosing their own path ... they will go their own way, and that is fair enough; but they must accept the consequences. They will remain outsiders of the world community.

When I was in China the McDonalds near Tieneman square was upset because they had signed a 5 year contract with the government for their location, and two years into that agreement the government told them they had to move. McDonalds said 'we have a contract' and the government said, 'we changed our mind' - I don't know if/how the issue was resolved, but I think it is analogous to how the Chinese government thinks. They make the rules, and change them as they see fit.

I don't suppose, Arne that you'll have anything to worry about in your travels, unless the Chinese government tries to whip up anti-US feeling again. But I do think this incident has a very real chance of destroying the US/Chinese relations. And with them poised to strike out at Taiwan, we could be in some very very serious times down the road. With the Republicans in power it is unlikely that the US will stay out of that fight, and it will be ugly.