This map shows that the incident occurred well outside Chinese airspace
This is not an April Fools' joke, but on April 1, 2001, a Chinese jet hit and damaged a United States recon plane flying in international airspace, and then forced it to land in the Chinese island province of Hainan.
The United States regularly flies planes in the South China Sea to monitor signals eminating in China. These planes always fly in international airspace. Let us be clear about something. This was not a spy as has been reported by many media outlets. This plane was marked and flying in international airspace. This does not fit the definition of spy which is by definition covert activity generally occuring withing the sovereignty territory of the country being spied upon. This plane was neither covert nor was it operating within Chinese territory.
Chinese air force jets frequently monitor the routes of the EP-3 aircraft that fly these recon missions, but rarely actively harass the planes. This was not the case on April 1. A Chinese fighter jet pilot rammed into the recon aircraft, forcing it to land on the nearest airstrip, in Hainan Island. It is a miracle, according to all counts, that Michael Shane was able to land the plane safely. However, this was only the beginning of China's atrocity.
China then held the crew of the plane against their will for about ten days. They threatened to try the men with espionage and continued berating the United States for violating its sovereignty and causing this incident.
The Chicoms were the instigators of this incident when they attacked the plane over international waters. Their violation of international law continued when they held the crew of the plane after their forced landing in Hainan and held the plane for three weeks.
We all know that the Chinese do not respect international law. They claim something is theirs and they expect the rest of the world to ackowledge their request. They even went so far to say that it was the fault of the EP-3. How could the EP-3, a lumbering, slow recon plane, instigate a conflict with a Chinese fighter jet. Chinese claims are absurd and rediculous. The Chinese are not to be trusted and will try to take out anyone standing in their way of dominating all of East and Southeast Asia.
Links:
U.S. surveillance plane lands in China after collision with fighter A CNN report from the day of the attack
The USA is China's Devil du Jour Strategy Page
Online NewsHour coverage of the incident
U.S.- China Spy (sic) Plane RowPhotos of the incident
Distress Calls An ABC News report
A timeline of the crisis