US diplomats held a fifth meeting Tuesday with the crew of a US spy plane detained on the southern Chinese island of Hainan, US officials said.
US military attache Brigadier General Neal Sealock said he and consular official Ted Gong held 40 minutes of discussions with the 24 crew members of the EP-3 surveillance plane in Haikou, the capital of Hainan.
"Their spirits remain high," Sealock told reporters after returning to his hotel in Haikou.
He said the crew had received new e-mails from family members back home, and that they were being held in "extremely good conditions."
"With regard to their freedom in the building they have the ability to do their PT (physical training) inside the buidling and things such as that," Sealock said.
"They have great faith in what is taking place. They fully understand the circumstances they are under," he added.
"I can't say enough about the conditions they are in, they are extremely good conditions and their spirits are high. They are ready to come home and we are ready to take them home."
The EP-3 surveillance plane was forced to make an emergency landing on Hainan on April 1 after it was involved in a collision with a Chinese fighter jet -- HAIKOU, China (AFP)
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