China today reiterated that it had agreed to allow the US to ship a US spy plane out of China aboard a transport aircraft.
Foreign ministry spokesman Mr Zhu Bangzao said China had agreed in principle for the US to send a commercial Antonov An-124 cargo plane to transport the EP-3 Aries II surveillance plane after it has been disassembled.
"The two sides are still holding negotiations on relevant technical details," Mr Zhu said.
The US had said Thursday it was prepared to disassemble the plane and fly it out of China aboard a cargo plane "if necessary," but had denied Chinese assertions that an agreement had been reached to do that.
The EP-3 has been at the center of a bitter dispute between the United States and China since it collided with a Chinese fighter jet April 1st off the coast of southern China and was forced to make an emergency landing at an air base on China's Hainan Island.
China, which lost a pilot and fighter jet in the collision, responded by holding the EP-3's 24-member crew for 11 days.
AFP