Taken Questions Office of the Spokesman Washington, DC April 12, 2001 Question taken at April 11, 2001 press briefing China: EP-3Q: Do we have the timeline for the earlier draft of the letter? Can you give a specific tick-tock for the letter? A: We do not wish to get into the details of our exchanges. The letter that we released is the final, authoritative text. Q: Did we do a translation or did we allow the Chinese to do a translation? A: The letter that we provided to the Chinese side was in English. The English text is the authoritative and only text provided to the Chinese side by the United States. Q: Will the letter sent by Secretary Powell be released? A: No, it will not be released. Q: Has the crew been told about the letter? Has there been another visit with the crew since the release of the letter? A: The crew was informed on the high priority that the President placed on their release but we were not in a position to discuss the negotiations. -- There was a crew visit on Tuesday. General Sealock and Consular Officer Gong visited with all 24 members of the crew and found them in good health. |