China bills U.S. $1m for plane's stay

A Russian-built Antonov-124 cargo jet, carrying the EP-3E Aries fuselage, lands at Dobbins Air Reserve Base

WASHINGTON -- China has sent the United States a bill for $1 million to cover the costs of one of its spy planes staying on Chinese soil for three months.

But a U.S. State Department official said Friday the government has no intention of paying it.

The American spy plane was forced to make an emergency landing on the Chinese island of Hainan on April 1 after colliding with a Chinese military aircraft that was shadowing it.

VIDEO A cargo plane carrying what is left of the EP-3 spy plane that landed in China arrives at Dobbins Air Reserve Base (July 5) Play video (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media)   EXTRA INFORMATION Images of spy plane disassembly

The episode roiled relations between the two countries just after President George W. Bush came to office, with ties between the two nations tumbling to their worse levels in two years.

After a drawn-out diplomatic spat, in which China held the plane's 24 crew for 11 days, Beijing allowed an American team to come and disassemble the plane and it was flown back to U.S. custody this week.

The United States had wanted to repair the plane and fly it out, but China said allowing the plane to fly off Hainan would be a national humiliation.

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The fuselage and other parts of the plane were flown to a Georgia air base July 5 -- on a Russian Antonov cargo aircraft, but the bill has left U.S. diplomats describing it as "exaggerated."

"It's nice to know they have a sense of humor," a U.S. State department official said on condition of anonymity, scoffing at the scale of Beijing's charge.

The official said the United States, which is currently assessing whether the EP-3 can be returned to service, would respond in kind, apparently by sending a hefty bill back.

"They have presented us with what we would consider to be somewhat exaggerated charges," he said.

His comment comes one day after Rear Adm. Craig Quigley, a Pentagon spokesman, said the administration was prepared to reimburse China for reasonable costs.

The costs are related mostly to support provided by the Chinese government and local businesses to a Lockheed Martin recovery crew on Hainan.

The spokesman at the Chinese Embassy was unavailable for comment on the State Department rejection of the bill.

The Naval Air Systems Command has estimated structural repairs to the aircraft would take eight to 12 months. After that, the plane will be flown to Waco, Texas, for an electronic systems upgrade.

U.S. security personnel will also examine the plane, which was loaded with surveillance equipment, to try to determine what data the Chinese may have obtained.