China's military demands end to spy flights
China's top military newspaper has said Beijing is entitled to "investigate thoroughly" the detained crew of a US naval spy plane.
It also demanded an end to surveillance flights near the coast.
The article in the Liberation Army Daily added to indications China's politically powerful military is pressing for a hard line with Washington.
The US crew has been held at military facilities on Hainan Island since the collision on April 1 of their EP-3E surveillance plane with a Chinese fighter jet over the South China Sea.
US diplomats were allowed to meet the 24-member crew today, their third visit, on the island where the US Navy plane made an emergency landing. The Chinese fighter pilot is missing.
US Vice-President Dick Cheney said the negotiations between the two powers were intense.
He said a quick resolution is important to the future of relations between the two countries.
Chinese authorities have confirmed they questioned the US crew. They accuse the pilot of breaking the law by making an emergency landing at a Chinese air base without permission.
The US Navy plane is believed to have been monitoring military radio, radar and other signals when it collided with one of two Chinese fighter jets sent to track it.
The White House has declined to apologise, saying it believes the collision was an accident.
