Best thing we got from China

They're home
That's what is most important.
The 24 American men and women spent 11 days in Chinese custody after their reconnaissance plane collided with a Chinese fighter jet that was attempting to intimidate the U.S. craft in international air space.
The price of the crew's release was a carefully worded statement of regret. It allowed the Chinese to save face and both sides to avoid what could have turned into a dangerous standoff.
Wrong way: Truth be told, if either side owed the other an apology, it was the other way around.
It was the Chinese pilot's reckless action that caused the collision, and his own death. It was Chinese air controllers who refused to acknowledge multiple May Day broadcasts by the crippled American plane. Still, a parade of American spokesmen, up to and including President Bush, expressed regret over the pilot's death and extended condolences to his widow. And the letter that brought the crew's release said that we were "very sorry" for entering China's air space and making an emergency landing on Hainan Island without receiving verbal clearance.
They damage our plane, ignore our crew's distress signals and we apologize. As our mothers told us, sometimes it takes the bigger person to apologize, even when he knows he wasn't wrong. This is the granddaddy of such bigger-guy apologies.
Importantly, the Bush administration never apologized for causing the collision. That would have gone beyond largesse into irresponsibility.
And, the administration has assured the American people that no side deals were negotiated. There were no promises of support by the United States for China's future membership in the World Trade Organization or for its efforts to host an Olympics. Future arms sales by the United States to Taiwan will proceed at their own pace.
Opportunity: This incident gives the Bush administration a chance to restore some balance to the cockeyed relationship that has developed between the United States and China. It has caused Americans to think about the lopsided nature of trade between the two countries and the disproportionate status China seems to enjoy.
U.S. exports to China represent about 1 percent of the U.S. economy. Chinese exports to the United States represent about 30 percent of China's economy. As we mentioned recently, in January, China bought a paltry $1.2 billion in goods and services from the United States, a decrease of 25 percent, while U.S. imports from China increased nearly 10 percent to $8.4 billion. For every $1 worth of goods or services China bought from the United States, we bought about $6.50 worth of stuff from China.
If the United States has anything to be sorry about, it is the degree to which Americans are willing to buy whatever China ships to us, no questions asked.