China joins lengthening string of leadership tests for Bush

President George W. Bush raised the diplomatic stakes Tuesday in warning that the spy-plane standoff with China could sour relations between the two countries.

But even as Bush insisted it was time for the crew and plane to be returned, reflecting U.S. frustration over the three-day stalemate, the administration tried to keep the incident from escalating out of control.

The crisis is just the latest leadership hurdle to unexpectedly confront Bush, who already was trying to cope with a stock market selloff, new flare-ups in the Middle East and problems with Russia and European allies.

Although Bush prefers sticking to carefully prepared scripts, the challenges are forcing him and his advisers to improvise policy more and more in a presidency just 11 weeks old.

The Navy EP-3E surveillance plane and its 24 American crew members remained on China's Hainan island three days after it made an emergency landing there after colliding with a Chinese fighter jet.

And China, which wants a U.S. apology, was showing no public signs of budging.

"We have allowed the Chinese government time to do the right thing. But now it is time for our servicemen and women to return home, and it is time for the Chinese government to return our plane," Bush said late Tuesday afternoon in the Rose Garden.

He suggested "our hopes for a fruitful and productive relationship between our two countries" could lie in the balance.

That was a marked change of tone from remarks earlier in the day by Secretary of State Colin Powell, who said in Key West, Florida, after U.S. diplomats began a meeting with the detained crew members, "I hope that is the beginning of an end to this incident. ... I hope this starts us on a road to a full and complete resolution of this matter."

Administration officials said Bush decided to raise the issue of U.S.-Chinese relations after three days of patient, muted diplomacy failed to result in the release of the crew. But his national security advisers are mindful that he must walk a fine line.

For instance, he did not set a deadline, not wanting to box China into a corner, aides said.

Officials said various options were being considered if China does not act quickly. Those options, which have yet to go to Bush's desk, range from canceling the president's planned trip to Beijing next October all the way to withdrawing the U.S. ambassador.

Economic sanctions are also possible, but not likely, officials suggested. The conflict could also increase pressure on Bush to sell Taiwan more sophisticated weaponry when he makes a decision on that later this month.

It's been hard for Bush lately to keep his focus on rallying congressional support for his domestic agenda, including its signature dlrs 1.6 trillion tax cut.

Since his inauguration Jan. 20, he has ordered airstrikes against Iraq, seen the nation's intelligence community rocked by a Russian spy scandal and watched European allies balk at his proposals to build a national missile defense shield and to withdraw from an international treaty on global warming.

He's also witnessed a collapse of the peace process in the Middle East. Violence flared in the region again on Tuesday.

Domestically, U.S. stock markets have plummeted, including a sharp selloff on Tuesday, and the once-robust American economy has slowed to a crawl or a standstill.

On Capitol Hill, vanquished Republican presidential rival Sen. John McCain continues to vex Bush, rising as an independent force in negotiating with Democrats to win support for a campaign-finance overhaul.

The circumstances make it hard for Bush to remain "on message" in pushing his economic program and could contribute to slippage in his public approval ratings, suggested Princeton political science professor Fred Greenstein.

Still, Greenstein said, "all these things are problems for a fledgling president that they can turn around."

Ivo Daalder, a foreign policy analyst at the Brookings Institution, said the Chinese confrontation could easily turn into a "firestorm on Capitol Hill" if Beijing continues to hold the crew and the aircraft.

But to this point, the Bush White House "has made the minimum necessary statement: that this is an accident and that the crew and plane must be released. They've left it in China's court right now. So far, so good."