China set to free US spy plane

China has signalled it will release the US spy plane held since a collision with a fighter jet.

The Chinese say they are waiting for word from Washington on how to transport the plane home.

Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Sun Yuxi said the two sides were still consulting on the plane's fate. The Navy EP-3E has been held on the southern island of Hainan since the April 1 collision with a Chinese jet over the South China Sea. The Chinese pilot was killed and China held the US crew of 24 for 11 days.

China has already said it will not allow the plane to fly out of Hainan under its own power - a position Sun has repeated in Beijing.

A British company has said it has received an indirect enquiry from the US government about the possible charter of a huge Antonov freight plane to remove the plane from China. But Sun said Beijing had heard nothing official from Washington.

The US navy is to honour the plane's crew. The pilot, Lieutenant Shane Osborn, will receive the Distinguished Flying Cross.