Missing Chinese Pilot Still Sought

Clinging to hopes that a missing Chinese fighter pilot could still be found alive, hundreds of his countrymen scoured the shark-infested waters off Hainan island for a ninth day Monday--even as the state media appeared to be preparing the nation for his death.

“The possibility of his survival is getting smaller and smaller,” a navy officer said on the evening news. “But if there’s even a glimmer of hope, we have to give it 100%.”

That glimmer has kept as many as 800 boats, some piloted by fishermen from southern China, Hong Kong and Taiwan, at sea around the clock to search for Lt. Cmdr. Wang Wei, who parachuted from his fighter jet on April 1 after a midair collision with an American spy plane.

Anyone with a vessel in the area has been told to keep an eye out for the 33-year-old airman.

“See that red spot on the navigational guide? That’s where our pilot crashed. The location is now firmly planted in my head,” said fisherman Xu Caizhen, who told the Hainan Daily that he and his colleagues had aborted regular fishing trips to join the rescue effort.

The South China Sea is particularly choppy during March and April. High winds and strong waves could push floating objects out to sea at a pace of up to 100 nautical miles in 24 hours, a Chinese official involved in the rescue effort said. Sharks and other sea creatures are also real threats.

Navy officials said pilots such as Wang are equipped with 12 different types of lifesaver, including a floating device, a signal gun, a saltwater purifier and food. And they pointed to one instance in which a boatman was reportedly found alive after 23 days at sea.

But experts say the chances of survival dwindle after three days.

“It doesn’t matter whether he is still alive or not. We still need to find him,” said Wu Yaxing, who lives in a floating fishing village near the site where the sophisticated U.S. surveillance plane landed after the collision. U.S. diplomats met with the 24 American crew members detained on the island for the fourth time Monday, and confirmed that they have access to air conditioning and laundry service.

“How could we set the Americans free if our pilot is still missing?” Wu demanded as he ate dinner with relatives on the deck of his wooden fishing boat.

Wu and his colleagues said that they would have loved to join the search for Wang but that their boats are not big enough for the rough open sea. Strong winds had already prevented them from going about their normal fishing routine. They said they could only imagine the obstacles facing Wang.

“It’s hard to find driftwood out at sea, and you have to be willing to eat dead fish and anything you can get your hands on to survive,” said Guo Youyang, 20. “Otherwise, you are dead for sure.”

But he surmised that the risk of a shark attack was slim.

“We want to catch sharks, and we don’t find them easily,” he said. “He will probably drown before he runs into one.”

Some of the village fishermen vented their outrage at what they see as America’s audacity at presuming to boss China around.

“We are just ordinary fishermen. We know nothing about politics, but even we are unsatisfied with America,” said Zheng Yasi, 48, as he visited friends on a dinghy that ferries the residents of this floating world from boat to boat. “Tell your President Bush that America is too much of a bully.”

Others preferred to leave the intangible world of politics to their government and focus instead on their nation’s newest hero and rallying point.

State media have painted Wang as a family man and patriot who showed both restraint and bravery against American spy planes, which they say engage in reckless behavior to defy detection.

“As Chinese, we are all sympathetic to Wang and his family,” Wu said. But he added: “It’s been nine days. It’s looking pretty grim.”

Guo said he had heard that there was a reward for finding Wang or his body.

“It’s not that I don’t want to, but even if they gave me $100,000, I couldn’t find him,” he said.