China denies seeing downed US helicopter
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China.org.cn, August 17, 2011
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U.S. stealth helicopter crashed during the commando raid to Osama bin Laden in May |
China's Ministry of National Defense on Tuesday refuted media reports that Pakistan gave it access to a radar-evading helicopter that crashed during the U.S. mission to kill Osama bin Laden.
"These reports are entirely groundless and completely absurd," the information office of the Ministry of Defence said in a brief statement posted on the ministry's official website.
The international business newspaper Financial Times reported Sunday that Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence had allowed Chinese experts to take photographs of the wreckage and samples of the stealth chopper outer skin which was designed to evade radar.
Pakistan also rejected reports on Monday saying Pakistan was aware the U.S. had bin Laden's compound and the helicopter wreckage under round-the-clock surveillance after the raid, so it would know whether foreign technical experts had examined it.
The modified Black Hawk helicopter crashed during the raid by US Navy Seals to kill the al-Qaeda chief. U.S. forces attempted to destroy the helicopter, but the tail section remained largely intact.
The damaged remains of the aircraft were later brought back to the United States.
Photos of the wreckage with the tail still visible flashed around the world, drawing immediate chatter among defense experts who noticed it appeared to have previously undisclosed technology.
