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Reports: Crashed Chinese military plane was surveillance aircraft SHANGHAI, China -- A Chinese military plane that recently crashed, killing all 40 people on board, was a surveillance aircraft carrying almost three dozen electronics experts, a pair of Beijing-backed newspapers reported. Despite those reports, a Defense Ministry spokesman on Tuesday said he had no new information on Sunday's crash, which the government says is being investigated under direct orders from Chinese President Hu Jintao. An official with the local government in Guangde county where the plane went down refused to give any details on the crash or recovery efforts. Neither official would give his name, as is common among Chinese bureaucrats. The newspaper Ta Kung Pao on Monday said the crash was the People's Liberation Army's worst-ever aviation disaster, although that was impossible to confirm due to the intense secrecy surrounding China's military. The paper, along with another Beijing-supported publication, Wen Wei Po, said 35 of those killed were electronics experts and that the five other victims were the plane's crew. If true, the crash could mark a serious setback to China's attempts to develop greater self-sufficiency in high-tech armaments for which it is now heavily dependent on Russia and other foreign suppliers. The newspapers didn't identify the exact model of aircraft, although Ta Kung Pao ran an accompanying article discussing the KJ-2000 plane. China is developing the early warning aircraft using a Russian frame but outfitted with powerful homemade radars and electronic sensors. The planes are reportedly undergoing testing in Nanjing, a city about 150 kilometers north of the crash site. In an apparent indication of the seriousness of the incident, state media said investigators were immediately sent to the crash site under orders from the president. Gen. Guo Boxiong, the vice chairman of the Communist Party commission that oversees the military, is heading up the investigation, the Xinhua News Agency said. ---------------------------------------------------
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