A scathing report by an U.S. engineer
for the Intelsat consortium, which used Chinese
rockets to launch U.S. satellites, described China's
Xichang Satellite Launch Center as lacking basic
safety features. The Associated Press cited excerpts
from the declassified report, released by the White
House to Congressional committees investigating the
illegal transfer of U.S. missile technology to China.
U.S. engineer, Daniel Lilienstein wrote, the Chinese
launch facility fell, "pathetically short of
world standards in most areas... This kind of callous
disregard for human life is unconscionable and should
not be supported by satellite operators."
The March 4, 1996 report was written
soon after the explosion of a Chinese Long March
rocket that carried a satellite built by Loral Space
and Communications, that is the subject investigations
by the U.S. Justice Department and congressional
committees. AP adds, the report points to a
willingness by U.S. satellite makers to put up with
highly risky rocket operations because of the lower
prices offered by China. Following the explosion,
which killed at least 100 Chinese villagers, U.S.
monitors were barred from the crash site for at least
five hours, which lawmakers fear may have allowed
China to confiscate sensitive U.S. technology from the
wreckage. Lilienstein claims he and other U.S.
technicians were prevented from moving for some nine
hours.
U.S. satellite makers were aware of
the problems at the Chinese launch site before
committing their satellite equipment, worth hundreds
of millions of dollars, Lilienstein writes. He lists
four previous failures of Chinese Long March rockets,
which resulted in several deaths among base crew.
July 22
Pentagon officials confirm the Chinese
test-fired new solid-fuel motors for its new DF-31
long range nuclear missile on July 1, during President
Clinton's visit to China, the Washington Times
reports. The test was part of the ongoing strategic
weapons modernization program, which included the
unprecedented production of six new CSS-4 ICMS during
the first half of this year.
China's nuclear weapons program will
not affect the U.S. and China from "building a
cooperative security relationship," said State
Department spokesman James Rubin. "We are aware
that China continues its limited efforts to modernize
its nuclear forces."
A U.S. defense official told the Times
that
China intentionally planned the test, which was easily
detected by U.S. spy satellites, during Clinton's
visit. "President Clinton said proliferation
would be high on his agenda, and by testing this key
component for a new long-range missile, the Chinese
made clear their lack of respect for both the
president and his message," he said.
A U.S. Air Force Intelligence Center
report states the 4,500 mile-range DF-31 ICBM will
"give China major strike capability that will be
difficult to counterattack... it will be a major
threat throughout the western continental Untied
States [along an area that covers between California
and Wisconsin]." Deployment of the DF-31 and the
7,000 mile-range DF-41 is expected within two years.
