War ships are deployed to “keep watch.” Earlier, in a robust statement outside the White House Mr Bush said that the “first step should be immediate access by our embassy personnel to our crew members. I am troubled by the lack of a timely Chinese response to our request for this access.” He said that China?s failure to comply with the request for access was “inconsistent with standard diplomatic practice and with the express desire of both our countries for better relations”.
Mr Bush demanded that the EP-3 aircraft be handed over “without further tampering” but did not elaborate on what damage was suspected.