“On April 1 [2001], a Chinese F-8 fighter jet intercepted a U.S. EP-3 reconnaissance plane over the South China Sea, forcing it to land on China’s Hainan Island with its twenty-four-man crew taken prisoner by the Chinese government. After initial harsh demands for the immediate return of the crew and the sophisticated $80 million aircraft, including all of its intelligence equipment, the [Bush] administration soon adopted a quieter tone. After intense negotiations between U.S. and Chinese diplomats, which included a letter from U.S. Ambassador to China Joseph Prueher, the crew was released on April 12.”
– Stefan Halper and Jonathan Clarke, America Alone, Page 130