>International air safety conventions dictate that planes should never be within 200 ft of each other.

Sure, but who violated that?

>See response #1.

Huh? We haven't gotten any further here. We don't know who is to blame for the accident.

>Oh, several. A 1919 convention about aircraft and sovereignty. Also a 1998 agreement between China and the US. And there is another treaty which I can't recall the year or location that also deals with these matters.

Let's see some links.

>Everybody says that the US would have done the same had the situation been reversed. But it once was reversed: In the 1970's a Soviet reconnaisance plane had mechanical problems and made an emergency landing at an American airbase in Alaska. The US helped them repair the plane and refueled it. Never interred the crew, never set foot on the plane, knowing full well at the time that it wold have been a violation of international agreements.

If the US had something to gain from either situation I am sure they would have done it, as most countries would. The US has little to gain from Russian or China communication equip.