A US spy plane bumped into one of two Chinese Air Force fighters Sunday morning in China's southern airspace, causing it to crash, with the fate of of the pilot remaining unknown, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman said.

According to Zhu Baozao, the spokesman, an American surveillance plane intruded into China's souther airspace, about 104 kilometres south of China's Hainan Province, and two Chinese military fighters scrambled to track it.

At around 9:07 am Beijing time, when the two Chinese aircraft were conducting normal flight operations, the US spy plane suddenly veered towards it. The nose and left wing of the US plane hit the Chinese plane and caused it to crash, Zhu said.

China is now searching for the pilot, and ``we are very much concerned about the status of the pilot,'' the spokesman said.

The spokesman said it is international practice that the planes of a sovereign country trace and ``keep an eye on'' any intruding spy planes. ``The crash of Chinese fighter directly resulted from the sudden turn-over and run-in of the US plane, which is againt flight rule, '' the spokesman said.

The US side should bear all the responsibility arising therefrom, Zhu said.

The Chinese side has made solemn representations and protested to the US side, and China reserves its right to further negotiate with the U.S.side on the losses resulted in the incident, he said.

China has so far made proper arrangements for all the 24 crew members on board the US plane, Zhu said, adding that China also reserves the right to further negotiate with the US side on the US plane's intrusion into China's airspace and landing at the Chinese airport without permission, Zhu said.

Earlier, the US Navy said one of its surveillance aircraft had made an emergency landing in the southerly island of Hainan after a mid-air bumpwith a Chinese fighter. All 24 crew aboard the US plane were safe.

Military experts said US spy planes fly along China's coast eavesdropping on military communications.

``It's very regular for the American Navy to have their planes intruding into Chinese airspace,'' said Yan Xuetong, an expert in international studies at Tsinghua University in Beijing. ``The Chinese then send up fighters and chase them out.''

(chinadaily 04/01/2001)