【明報專訊】An encounter between a Chinese military aircraft and a US reconnaissance plane almost escalated into a crisis in the South China Sea in a possible repeat of the death of Wang Wei 21 years ago. The US reconnaissance plane made an emergency landing on Hainan Island at the time. Last year, Sino-US relations were an all-too-familiar combination of struggles and negotiations. It does not seem that a new landscape will emerge this year. However, the US will have to face the new Chinese foreign minister Qin Gang, who was the ambassador to the US for a year and a half.