China on Tuesday night asked the United States to apologise and bear full responsibility for the emergency landing of an American spy plane after colliding with a Chinese fighter but allowed US diplomats to meet the 24-member crew of the aircraft grounded in Hainan province. “The US should face reality, take responsibility and apologise to China,” Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Zhu Bangzao told reporters at a late night special briefing on the spy plane stand-off between the two countries. More than 60 hours after the spy plane landed triggering a diplomatic crisis, two US diplomats met its crew even as Washington accused Beijing of illegally boarding the US plane. Army Brig Gen Neal Sealock, the US embassy defence attache who met the crew on Tuesday night, said, “I have seen the crew. The entire crew is in good health. They are being well taken care of.” “Our goal is to get them home as soon as possible,” he added but offered no clue as to when they might be released. Official Xinhua news agency quoted Chinese President Jiang Zemin as saying that US should bear full responsibility for the collision on Sunday. Zhu demanded an explanation from the US side for its defiant acts of ramming and damaging a Chinese fighter jet over the South China Sea. The Chinese pilot was still missing. “The US side should be held fully responsible for the collision,” he said, urging the US government to be serious and take measures to prevent any recurrence of such an incident. Bureau Report