Spy plane freedom deal agreed

American and Chinese negotiators have agreed on technical details for dismantling and shipping home a crippled US spy plane.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Sun Yuxi would not give any specifics of the agreement, but said all outstanding issues blocking the return of the surveillance plane had been cleared up.

Preparations have begun and US personnel were expected to travel to Hainan, the island in the South China Sea where the spy plane landed after colliding with a Chinese fighter jet on April 1, Sun said at a news briefing.

The collision, which killed the Chinese fighter pilot, caused the worst US-Sino tensions since Nato aircraft bombed China’s embassy in Yugoslavia in 1999 during the air war over Kosovo.