From a diplomatic point of view, this issue has moved past who was originally at fault and is now at who can save the most face. And the poor US servicemen are caught in the middle (as was the Chinese pilot that lost his life).
This is now about China's national pride and their determination to show their citizens that they won't be pushed around in their own backyard, irrespective of who was at fault.
This is also about the Bush Administration's drawing their line in the sand and their desire to make sure that China know that the US is a superpower and that China isn't one (yet).
There's a third consideration - China's 1.3 billion people are a huge market for US multinationals so the tone against China has been a lot more respectful than the tone against, say Russia, when the US caught Robert Hanssen spying and kicked out 50 Russian diplomats.
Very interesting and potentially dangerous times ahead.
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