ited States' leaders, the computers and other technology on the plane were removed by the Chinese.
The Americans, upon release, said that they had been treated fairly well by the Chinese, and that they had destroyed much equipment and software before the emergency landing in China. The most dramatic accounts of the Americans focused not on the days of captivity and their relations with their Chinese captors, but on their beliefs or fears that they were going to crash into the sea and die after the collision. Only through the heroics of the pilot of the American plane did he and his 24 fellow Americans survive.
The crisis began at the collision, of course, but it intensified when the Chinese chose to keep the Americans. Were they "prisoners" or "hostages" or "detainees" or "guests"? Whatever they were, the United States protested and the Chinese refused to release them. There is little doubt that the Chinese went through the plane seeking technology and information, but the plane became less significant than the disposition of the 24 Americans.
Specifically, both sides in the dispute were in conflict over what was necessary for the release of the Americans. After letting go of the question of whether the U.S. plane was in Chinese or international airspace, the Chinese government sought a way to end the crisis, which did not benefit them any more than it benefitted the Americans. The question then became what sort of apology would be issued by the American government, and when that apology came--for the death of the Chinese pilot and the landing of the American plane on Chinese soil--the 24 Americans were immediately released and the crisis was over, with the disposition of the plane yet to be settled.
The theoretical perspectives of Marx and Simmel illuminate different aspects of the crisis. Marxism is useful in providing a larger context in which the crisis can be understood. Simmel's theory, on the other hand, allows a...