China's official Xinhua news agency reports that a number of guided missile technology experts have been promoted to the decision making levels of combat units in the People's Liberation Army Second Artillery Corps, which is responsible for nuclear weapons. Xinhua describes the policy change as, "an important measure the strategic guided missile units have taken to promote the modernization drive," in which "scientific policy making" and nuclear weapons are integral components. Xinhua adds, these experts, "have also participated in the technological support and quality control of large-scale drills and launching with live ammunition, and tackled many major technical difficulties in the training of guided missile launching."

The Wall Street Journal reports that congressional investigators are probing the security clearance of Dr. Wah Lim, the Chinese-born physicist, who as a vice-president of the US company Loral Space and Communications Ltd., led the review of a failed 1996 satellite launch at the request of China Aerospace Corporation. Lim subsequently gave the accident analysis report to China before it was cleared by US security officials. China Aerospace, owned by the Chinese military, is the producer of the Long March space launch [and ICBM] rockets. Investigators are probing whether Loral fired a respected national security expert, Col. James Reynolds, who was scheduled to lead the accident review, in order to accommodate the Chinese request for Lim, who was known to be well-connected to Chinese officials.

The Pentagon revealed a second investigation of a US satellite company that may have sent military useful information to China, the Washington Times reports. The investigation will focus on whether Hughes Space and Communications Corp. harmed US national security in 1995 by sending China a technical report following the failed launch in China of the Apstar 2 satellite. The Defense Department claims that although the Hughes analysis transfer was authorized by a desk officer at the US Commerce Department, the report should have been licensed by the State Department before it was turned over to the Chinese.

Testifying before the Senate Subcommittee on Proliferation, Stephen Bryen, former director of the Defense Technology Security Administration, warned that in addition to any help China may have gotten from US satellite exports, the transfer of sensitive US technology was enabling China to modernize its military, the Associated Press reports. His testimony conflicted sharply with recent statements by Clinton administration Defense and State Department officials. "The export system is falling apart... China has been able to get technology that was forbidden to the Soviet Union" said Bryen. He cited Commerce Department export approval of supercomputers, machine tools, jet engines and hi-tech furnaces.

Using US-made supercomputers, China can break military codes of other nations, design small nuclear weapons for cruise missiles and develop new weapon systems "as good as anything anywhere," Bryen stated. "This will enhance China's ability to shift the balance of power in the Pacific."

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All Rights Reserved.

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