Secretary of State Colin Powell Wednesday sent Chinese Vice Premier Qian Qichen a letter expressing regret for the apparent death of a Chinese pilot in the weekend collision with a U.S. spy plane, a senior U.S. official said.

The official said the letter was delivered during a meeting in Washington with Chinese Ambassador Yang Jiechi.

"The Secretary gave the Chinese ambassador a letter for the vice premier that expressed our concern about our crew, expressed regret for the apparent loss of life of the pilot and discussed his (Powell's) thoughts on finding ways to resolve the issue," said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Powell's letter addressed the same kinds of issues he had discussed in public regarding the incident, the official said, adding that there had been no immediate response from Beijing.

A senior State Department said earlier that during the meeting with Yang, Powell had stressed "the importance of full access to our crew and their return home."

"We also emphasized the need to find ways to resolve the issue," the official said, adding that the ambassador's visit to the State Department lasted about half an hour.

The ambassador first met Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage and was then invited to Powell's office, where he was given the letter for Qian -- China's top foreign policy official.

The US surveillance plane, carrying 24 crew, made an emergency landing on Hainan Island last weekend after a midair collision with a Chinese fighter that was shadowing it. The Chinese plane crashed.

The United States has demanded the swift return of the plane and its crew, but China has insisted on an apology from Washington.

The State Department official said Yang and Powell agreed to continue discussions but the ambassador had brought neither new proposals nor a considered response to Powell's earlier expression of regret at the presumed death of the Chinese pilot.

Asked what, if anything, they had agreed, the official said, "Just to continue discussions." He said no official visits to either Beijing or Washington had been agreed.

The Chinese ambassador said in a television interview later that he had reiterated his government's position that the United States was fully responsible for the crash and should apologize.

"The Chinese side is the injured party. Our plane crashed and our pilot is missing," Yang said on PBS's newshour with Jim Lehrer.

Yang suggested that the U.S. expression of regret over the loss of the Chinese pilot would not be enough to bring the standoff to an end.

"They didn't even say they are sorry," he said, adding that Beijing was waiting to see what step Washington took next.

(China Daily 04/05/2001)