[patriciaruth]

we caved in totally and gave out apologies for hitting their plane was not good.

I remember Senator Feinstein groveling, but I remember that Bush said we were sorry for the death of their pilot as we would be for anyone, but we never apologized or took responsibility for the midair collision.

I specifically remember Chinese commentators being angry that one Chinese word used in the official translation meant sorrow but was not the one that meant regret with nuance of personal responsibility that they wanted.

[tallhappy]

Well, we apologized. The statement was in English. We translated it and the Chinese translated it as well. Sorry or apology was there a few times and in the instance you are talking about, the Chinese of course translated it in one way, we in another.

Either way, it was an apology and not just an expression of regret over the death of Wang Wei.