During the Watergate scandal of the 1970’s, the recurrent theme echoed
across our televisions nightly was "what does the President know, and when
did he know it?" The question is appropriate today, with far
more ominous implications. In 1974, we were discussing a campaign
office burglary. Today we discuss the theft and transfer of our most
top-secret nuclear weapons technology by the Red Chinese Army.
For those who wish to read the entire bi-partisan Cox Report on
this breach of U.S. national security, it can be easily accessed on the
Internet via the 10th District Website at www.house.gov/norwood.
The basic summary is frightening. The People’s Republic of
China (PRC), beginning in the 1970’s and continuing to present, has stolen
technology from four U.S. nuclear labs - Los Alamos, Lawrence Livermore,
Oak Ridge, and Sandia. Some of what they have acquired remains
classified. Here’s what we know they have acquired through these
thefts:
· Classified information on seven U.S. thermonuclear warheads,
including every currently deployed thermonuclear warhead in the U.S.
ballistic missile arsenal.
· Classified design information for an enhanced radiation weapon
(commonly known as the"neutron bomb"), which neither the United States,
nor any other nation, has yet deployed.
· Electromagnetic weapons research technology that could be used to
attack both U.S. and British satellites and submarines with space-based
weapons.
· Weapons-guidance systems currently used by our conventional forces,
including the U.S. Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS), the U.S. Navy
Stand-off Land Attack Missile, the U.S. Navy F-14, the U.S. Air
Force F-15, F-16, and F-117 fighter jets.
The information was gained through outright espionage, review of
unclassified publications, and extensive interactions with scientists from
the Department of Energy's national weapons laboratories. The stolen
U.S. nuclear secrets give the PRC design information on thermonuclear
weapons on a par with our own. Currently deployed PRC ICBMs targeted on
U.S. cities are based on 1950s-era nuclear weapons designs. With the
stolen U.S. technology, the PRC has leaped, in a handful of years, from
1950s-era strategic nuclear capabilities to the more modern thermonuclear
weapons designs. These modern thermonuclear weapons took the United States
decades of effort, hundreds of millions of dollars, and numerous nuclear
tests to achieve. The United States did not become fully aware of the
magnitude of the counterintelligence problem at the Department of Energy
national weapons laboratories until 1995.
National Security Advisor Sandy Berger to resign.
"Sandy Berger has failed in his duty to the administration and the
American people and I think he ought to accept his responsibility," Armey
said.
Armey went on to review the following time line detailing
Berger's lack of diligence in protecting U.S. national security:
· April 1996 - Berger briefed by DOE that China had stolen missile
warhead technology. Nothing happened. In fact, Wen Ho Lee
remained on the job at Los Alamos until March of this year. Whether
or not Berger told the President at that time is not clear, even from
Berger's own contradictory statements.
· July 1997 - Berger was again briefed with more information on Chinese
theft of still more U.S. secrets, including nuclear codes. Berger
now says he briefed the President after this briefing in 1997.
· October 1997 - Chinese President Jiang Zemin visited Washington.
· February 1998 - If Mr. Berger's memory is now correct, the President
was aware at this time that China had stolen America's most sensitive
nuclear secret, when he gave an additional waiver for the export of
missile technology to China.
· March 1999 - At a press conference, President Clinton stated, "To the
best of my knowledge, no one has said anything to me about any espionage,
which occurred by the Chinese against the labs, during my presidency."
Lax Commercial Policy also contributed to China's nuclear capabilities:
Berger was a strong advocate in the Administration for moving export
licensing decisions from the State department to the Commerce department -
where clearly commercial interests would take a higher priority.
Before 1996, no "High Performance Computers" were sold to Communist
China. That policy was changed in 1996, and since that time 600
computers were sent there, with the capacity to help Communist China
develop the nuclear secrets they stole. --30--
Without the nuclear secrets stolen from the United States, it would
have been virtually impossible for the PRC to fabricate and test
successfully small nuclear warheads prior to its 1996 pledge to adhere to
the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty.
The United States retains an overwhelming qualitative and quantitative
advantage in deployed strategic nuclear forces. Nonetheless, in a crisis
in which the United States confronts the PRC's conventional and nuclear
forces at the regional level, a modernized PRC strategic nuclear ballistic
missile force would pose a credible direct threat against the United
States.
Neither the United States nor the PRC has a national ballistic missile
defense system.
In the near term, a PRC deployment of mobile thermonuclear weapons,
or neutron bombs, based on stolen U.S. design information, could have
a significant effect on the regional balance of power, particularly with
respect to Taiwan. PRC deployments of advanced nuclear weapons based on
stolen U.S. design information would pose greater risks to U.S. troops and
interests in Asia and the Pacific.
In addition, the PRC's theft of information on our most modern nuclear
weapons designs enables the PRC to deploy modern forces much sooner than
would otherwise be possible.
At the beginning of the l990s, the PRC had only one or two silo-based
ICBMs capable of attacking the United States. Since then, the PRC has
deployed up to two dozen additional silo-based ICBMs capable of attacking
the United States; has upgraded its silo-based missiles; and has continued
development of three mobile ICBM systems and associated modern
thermonuclear warheads.
If the PRC is successful in developing modern nuclear forces, as seems
likely, and chooses to deploy them in sufficient numbers, then the
long-term balance of nuclear forces with the United States could be
adversely affected.
Even though the United States discovered in 1995 that the PRC had
stolen design information on the W-88 Trident D-5 warhead and
technical information on a number of other U.S. thermonuclear
warheads, the White House has informed the Select Committee, in response
to specific interrogatories propounded by the Committee, that the
President was not briefed about the counterintelligence failures until
early 1998.
A counterintelligence and security plan adopted by the Department of
Energy in late 1998 in response to Presidential Decision Directive 61
is a step toward establishing sound counterintelligence practices.
However, according to the head of these efforts, significant time will
be required to implement improved security procedures pursuant to the
directive. Security at the national weapons laboratories will not be
satisfactory until at least sometime in the year 2000.
See the chapters PRC Acquisition of U.S. Technology, PRC Theft of
U.S. Thermonuclear Warhead Design Information, and PRC Missile and
Space Forces for more detailed discussions of the Select Committee's
investigation of these matters.
A. The PRC has stolen U.S. missile technology and exploited itfor
the PRC's own ballistic missile applications.
The PRC has proliferated such military technology to a number of
other countries, including regimes hostile to the United States.
The Select Committee has found that the PRC has stolen a specific U.S.
guidance technology used on current and past generations of U.S.
weapons systems. The stolen guidance technology is currently used on a
variety of U.S. missiles and military aircraft, including:
The stolen guidance technology has direct applicability to the PRC's
intercontinental, medium- and short-range ballistic missiles, and its
spacelift rockets.
The theft of U.S. ballistic missile-related technology is of great
value to the PRC. In addition to ICBMs and military spacelift rockets,
such technology is directly applicable to the medium- and short-range
PLA missiles, such as the CSS-6 (also known as the M-9), the CSS-X-7
(also known as the M-11), and the CSS-8 that have been developed for,
among other purposes, striking Taiwan.
CSS-6 missiles were, for example, fired in the Taiwan Strait and over
Taiwan's main ports in the 1996 crisis and confrontation with the
United States.
The Select Committee has uncovered instances of the PRC's use of this
specific stolen U.S. technology that:
· Enhance the PRC's military capabilities
· Jeopardize U.S. national security interests
· Pose a direct threat to the United States,
our friends and allies, or our forces
The Clinton administration has determined that particular uses by the
PRC of this stolen U.S. technology cannot be disclosed publicly
without affecting national security.
The PRC has proliferated weapons systems and components to other
countries including Iran, Pakistan, Libya, Syria, and North Korea.
In 1997, the PRC stole classified U.S. developmental research
concerning very sensitive detection techniques that, if successfully
concluded, could be used to threaten U.S. submarines.
C. Currently-deployed PRC ICBMs targeted on the United States
are based in significant part on U.S. technologies illegally
obtained by the PRC in the 1950s.
This illustrates the potential long-term effects of technology loss.
Even in today's rapidly changing technological environment, technology
losses can have long-term adverse effects. Currently-deployed PRC
ICBMs targeted on the United States are based on U.S. and Russian
technologies from the 1950s and 1960s.
In the 1950s, a U.S. military officer and associated members of the
design team for a U.S. ICBM program (the "Titan" missile program)
emigrated to the PRC and illegally gave U.S. missile and
missile-related technology to the PRC.
This information formed the basis for the up to two dozen PRC CSS-4
ICBMs that are currently targeted on the United States.
All but two of these missiles have been deployed by the PRC for the
first time in this decade.
D. In the aftermath of three failed satellite launches since
1992,U.S. satellite manufacturers transferred missile design
information and know-how to the PRC without obtaining the legally
required licenses.
This information has improved the reliability of PRC rockets useful
for civilian and military purposes.
The illegally transmitted information is useful for the design and
improved reliability of future PRC ballistic missiles, as well.
U.S. satellite manufacturers analyzed the causes of three PRC launch
failures and recommended improvements to the reliability of the PRC
rockets. These launch failure reviews were conducted without required
Department of State export licenses, and communicated technical
information to the PRC in violation of the International Traffic in
Arms Regulations.
The Select Committee has concluded that the PRC implemented a
number of the recommended improvements to rocket guidance and to
the fairing (or nose cone), which protects a satellite during launch.
These improvements increased the reliability of the PRC Long March
rockets. It is almost certain that the U.S. satellite manufacturers'
recommendations led to improvements in the PRC's rockets and that the
improvements would not have been considered or implemented so soon
without the U.S. assistance.
It is possible or even likely that, absent the U.S. satellite
manufacturers' interventions on the problems associated with the
defective fairing on the PRC's Long March 2E rocket and the defective
guidance system on the PRC's Long March 3B rocket, one or more other
PRC launches would have failed.
The PRC Long March rockets improved by the U.S. technology
assistance are useful for both commercial and military purposes.
The military uses include launching:
· Military communications and reconnaissance
satellites
· Space-based sensors
· Space-based weapons, if successfully
developed
· Satellites for modern command and control
and sophisticated intelligence collection
The Select Committee judges that the PRC military has important needs
in these areas, including notably space-based communications and
reconnaissance capabilities.
In addition, design and testing know-how and procedures communicated
during the launch failure reviews could be applied to the reliability
of missiles or rockets generally. U.S. participants' comments during
the failure investigations related to such matters as:
· Missile design
· Design analysis
· Testing procedures
· The application of technical know-how to
particular failure analyses
To the extent any valuable information was transferred to the PRC's
space program, such information would likely find its way into the
PRC's ballistic missile program. The ballistic missile and space
launch programs have long been intertwined and subordinate to the same
ministry and state-owned corporation in the PRC.
For example, the PRC's Long March 2 rockets and their derivatives
(including the Long March 2E, on which Hughes advised the PRC) were
derived directly from the PRC's silo-based CSS-4 intercontinental
ballistic missiles that are currently targeted on the United States.
The various institutes and academies in the PRC involved in ballistic
missile and rocket design also share design and production
responsibilities. Many of the PRC personnel in these organizations
have responsibilities for both commercial rocket and military missile
programs. Attendees at important failure review meetings included PRC
personnel from such organizations.
In fact, information passed during each of the failure analyses has
the potential to benefit the PRC's ballistic missile program. The
independent experts retained by the Select Committee judge that
information valuable to the PRC's ballistic missile and space programs
was transferred to the PRC in the failure investigations.
The rocket guidance system on which Loral and Hughes provided advice
in 1996 is judged by the Select Committee to be among the systems
capable of being adapted for use as the guidance system for future PRC
road-mobile intercontinental ballistic missiles, although if a better
system is available, it is more likely to be chosen for that mission.
The Select Committee judges that information on rocket fairings (that
is, nose cones) provided to the PRC by Hughes may assist the design
and improved reliability of future PRC MIRVed missiles, if the PRC
decides to develop them, and of future submarine-launched ballistic
missiles.
When Loral and Hughes assisted the PRC, they could not know whether
the PRC would in fact use such information in their military programs.
i. In 1993 and 1995, Hughes showed the PRC how to improve the
design and reliability of PRC rockets.
Hughes' advice may also be useful for design and improved
reliability of future PRC ballistic missiles.
Hughes deliberately acted without seeking to obtain the legally
required licenses.
In 1993 and 1995, Hughes showed the PRC how to improve the design
and reliability of PRC Long March rockets with important military
applications. The information provided by Hughes also may be useful
for improving the reliability of future PRC ballistic missiles. Hughes
deliberately acted without the legally required licenses.
In 1993 and 1995 Hughes analyzed the causes of PRC launch failures
and, for both failures, illegally recommended to the PRC improvements
to the fairing, a part of the rocket that protects the payload. The
PRC changed the fairing of its Long March rocket to incorporate the
Hughes recommendations.
Hughes also corrected deficiencies in the PRC's coupled loads analysis,
a critical rocket design technology.
Hughes also identified changes needed in PRC launch operations.
The State Department's Office of Defense Trade Controls has concluded
that Hughes significantly improved the PRC space launch program and
contributed to the PRC goal of assured access to space. The State
Department further concluded that the lessons learned by the PRC are
inherently applicable to their missile program.
The State Department administers arms export licensing, and would have
been the proper authority to license the Hughes failure
investigations.
The State Department found that the PRC and Hughes personnel
engaged in an extensive exchange of data and analyses, which, among
other things, identified and corrected for the PRC deficiencies in a
number of technical areas, including:
· Anomaly analysis
· Accident investigation techniques
· Telemetry analysis
· Coupled loads analysis
· Hardware design and manufacture
· Testing
· Modeling
· Simulation
· Weather analysis
The illegally transmitted information improved the PRC's military
rockets and operations. The illegally transmitted information may
assist the PRC in the design and improved reliability of future
silo-based or mobile PRC ballistic missiles, including particularly
missiles that require fairings (or nose cones). These would include
missiles with advanced payloads (that is, multiple warheads, or
certain penetration aids designed to defeat missile defenses), and
submarine launched ballistic missiles.
The PRC has the capability to develop and deploy silo-based missiles
with multiple reentry vehicles (MIRVs or MRVs). Within a reasonable
period of years that is consistent with the PRC's possible deployment
of new mobile missiles, the PRC could deploy multiple warheads on
those mobile missiles, as well. The PRC also appears to have gained
practical insight into U.S. coupled loads analysis, and insight into
diagnostic and failure analysis techniques for identifying the causes
of a launch failure. Such lessons could be applied to both rockets and
missiles.
In both 1993 and 1995, Hughes failed to apply for or obtain the
required Department of State licenses for its activities, because
Hughes knew that the Department of State would be unlikely to grant
the license and that the licensing process would in any case be
lengthy.
Hughes also engaged in deliberate efforts to circumvent the Department
of State licensing requirement. To this end, Hughes sought the
approval of a Department of Commerce official for its 1995 activities
and claims to have sought the approval of a Department of Defense
monitor for some of its 1993 activities, although Hughes knew that
neither official was legally authorized to issue the required license.
Hughes had important commercial interests in the PRC at the time it
engaged in the failure investigations. These interests included future
sales of satellites to the PRC or to parties serving the PRC market,
and reducing the cost and improving the safety of launching satellites
in the PRC.
ii. In 1996, Loral and Hughes showed the PRC how to improve the
design and reliability of the guidance system used in the PRC's
newest Long March rocket.
Loral's and Hughes' advice may also be useful for design and
improved reliability of elements of future PRC ballistic missiles.
Loral and Hughes acted without the legally required license,
although both corporations knew that a license was required.
Loral and Hughes analyzed for the PRC the potential causes of a 1996
PRC launch failure, identified for the PRC the true cause of the
failure as a particular element within the Long March rocket's
guidance unit, and provided the PRC with technical assistance that may
be useful not only for the PRC's commercial and military space launch
programs, but for ballistic missiles as well.
In so doing, Loral and Hughes deliberately acted without the legally
required license, and violated U.S. export control laws.
Although Loral and Hughes were well aware that a State Department
license was required to provide assistance related to the guidance
system of a PRC rocket, neither company applied for or obtained the
required license. Loral was warned of the need for a license at the
time it agreed to participate in the investigation, but took no
action.
Loral and Hughes also failed to properly brief participants in the
failure investigation of U.S. export requirements, failed to monitor
the investigation as it progressed, and failed to take adequate steps
to ensure that no prohibited information was passed to the PRC.
Loral and Hughes submitted lengthy written materials analyzing the
cause of the guidance system failure to the PRC and to other foreign
nationals. In addition, Loral and Hughes engaged in technical
discussions, including discussions about the details and causes of the
guidance system failure, that were almost certainly recorded by the
PRC.
While some aspects of these discussions have been identified by the
Select Committee and reviewed by independent experts retained by the
Select Committee, the full range and content of these discussions
remains unknown. The Select Committee was unable to talk to several
important participants in the failure investigation, and the PRC
refused to agree to the Select Committee's request for interviews.
Additional controlled information may have been received by the PRC.
The information and assistance conveyed by Loral and Hughes led to
improvements to the guidance system of the PRC's Long March 3B
rocket. While the launch that failed was commercial, the information
transmitted by Loral and Hughes was useful, as well, for military
space launch purposes.
Loral and Hughes provided valuable additional information that
exposed the PRC to Western diagnostic processes that could lead to
improvements in the reliability of all PRC ballistic missiles. Loral's
and Hughes' advice could help reinforce or add vigor to the PRC's
adherence to good design and test practices, which could be
transferred to the ballistic missile program. The exposure to U.S.
diagnostic and test processes outlined by Loral and Hughes has the
potential to improve PRC pre- and post-flight failure analysis for the
ballistic missile program.
The technology transferred by Loral and Hughes thus has the potential,
if used by the PRC, to increase the reliability of future PRC
ballistic missiles.
The independent experts retained by the Select Committee had access
not just to the written report prepared by Loral with input from
Hughes, but also to the comments of participants about meetings in
Beijing. The independent experts conclude that information valuable to
the PRC's space and ballistic missile programs was transferred.
Neither Loral nor Hughes disclosed to export control officers of the
U.S. Government their unlicensed activities until after they were
contacted by U.S. Government licensing officials demanding an
explanation for their conduct. The U.S. Government officials became
aware of the improper activities through an article in a widely-read
industry publication. This article also came to Loral's attention
prior to Loral's disclosure to the U.S. Government.
Loral and Hughes had important commercial interests in the PRC when
they engaged in the 1996 failure investigation. These interests
included future sales of satellites to the PRC or to parties serving
the PRC market, and reducing the cost and improving the safety of
launching satellites in the PRC.
E. In light of the PRC's aggressive espionage campaign against U.S.
technology, it would be surprising if the PRC has not exploited
security lapses that have occurred in connection with launches of U.S.
satellites in the PRC.
The original policy permitting U.S. manufactured satellites to be
launched in the PRC envisioned strict compliance with requirements to
prevent unauthorized technology transfers.
These requirements are encompassed in U.S. regulations and licenses.
Pursuant to a bilateral agreement between the United States and the
PRC, the requirements include U.S. control over access to the
satellite while it is in the PRC. Many of these requirements imposed
on exporters are to be closely monitored by U.S. Government officials
provided by the Defense Department.
The Select Committee has found numerous lapses in the intended
pre-launch technology safeguards. Defense Department monitors have
reported numerous security infractions by exporters. Exporters often
hire private security guards to assist in the performance of their
duties to prevent technology transfers, and these private guards have
also reported security lapses.
In addition, it is likely that other security lapses have gone
unreported. In the mid-1990s, three launches and associated pre-launch
activities were not monitored by the Defense Department. Launches that
were monitored have lacked proper staffing.
Because of the PRC's aggressive efforts to acquire U.S. technology, it
would be surprising if the PRC has not exploited security lapses while
U.S.-built satellites and associated equipment and documents were in
the PRC. Prior to launch, the satellite, associated test equipment,
and controlled documents are transported to the PRC and may remain in
the PRC for periods as short as a couple of weeks or as long as two
months. The PRC would likely exploit opportunities to gain information
while the U.S. satellite and associated equipment are in the PRC
before launch.
Unrestricted access to a satellite for as little as two hours could
provide the PRC with valuable, non-public information about major
satellite subsystems, as well as the design and manufacture of such
subsystems.
There are numerous reasons for security infractions, some of which may
be addressed through changes in procedures:
· Defense Department monitors on occasion have
found poor attitudes toward security among
both company management and private guards
· Private security guards hired by satellite
exporters may have an inherent conflict of
interest when reporting on their current and
prospective employers
· Both Defense Department monitors and private
security guards may lack sufficient training
· Defense Department monitors sometimes lack
continuity with a given launch
· Often, only one Defense Department monitor
may have been present on a project
F. Foreign brokers and underwriters of satellite and space launch
insurance have obtained controlled U.S. space and missile-related
technology outside of the system of export controls that applies to
U.S. satellite manufacturers.
While existing laws address such exports, U.S. export control
authorities may not be adequately enforcing these laws in the
space insurance industry context, nor paying sufficient attention to
these practices.
Satellite and space insurance is underwritten by overseas and
multinational organizations to which U.S. technical information is
always passed to assess insurance risks. This is particularly true
where the insurers have particular reasons to be concerned about
launch failures.
These insurers have, on occasion, received controlled U.S. technical
information. It is not clear that manufacturers and purchasers of
satellites are transmitting satellite information to such foreign
brokers and underwriters in compliance with U.S. export control rules
and regulations.
As insurance is critical to commercial space launches, the insurance
role cannot be eliminated. Existing laws address exports to brokers
and insurers. The administration of these laws must be applied to
exports of sensitive U.S. technology to the space launch and satellite
insurance industry.
G. The Strom Thurmond National Defense Authorization Act took
important steps to correct deficiencies in the administration of
U.S. export controls on commercial space launches in the PRC.
But the aggressive implementation of this law is vital, and other
problems with launches in the PRC that the Act does not address
require immediate attention.
The Fiscal 1999 Department of Defense Authorization Act sought to
increase safeguards on technology transfer during foreign launches of
U.S. satellites.
The measures set forth in the Act include transferring licensing
jurisdiction to the Department of State, and increased support for the
Defense Department's efforts to prevent technology loss.
However, additional measures - including better training for Defense
Department monitors and improved procedures for hiring professional
security personnel - will be needed.
H. It is in the national security interest of the United States to
increase U.S. domestic launch capacity.
While U.S. policy since 1988 has permitted launching satellites in the
PRC, U.S. national security interests would be advanced by avoiding
the need for foreign launches through increased domestic launch
capability.
The Reagan administration's decision to permit launches in the PRC was
affected by two factors: insufficient domestic launch options in the
aftermath of the Challenger disaster, and the perception of the PRC as
a strategic balance against the Soviet Union in the context of the
Cold War. These factors are no longer applicable today.
Launching Western satellites has provided the PRC with additional
experience that has improved its space launch capabilities. Even in
the absence of any loss of U.S. technology, such experience benefits a
potential long-run competitor of the United States.
See the chapters PRC Missile and Space Forces,
Satellite Launches in the PRC: Hughes, and
Satellite Launches in the PRC: Loral for more
detailed discussion of the Select Committee's
investigation of these matters.
A. Recent changes in international and domestic export control
regimes have reduced the ability to control transfers of militarily
useful technology.
i. The dissolution of COCOM in 1994 left the United States without
an effective, multilateral means to control exports of militarily
useful goods and technology.
The Wassenaar Arrangement on Export Controls for Conventional Arms
and Dual-Use Goods and Technologies (Wassenaar) leaves international
controls over the transfer of military technologies to national
discretion.
The dissolution of the Coordinating Committee for Multilateral Export
Controls (COCOM) in March 1994 left the United States without an
effective international mechanism to control the transfer of important
military technologies. Other multilateral control regimes set
guidelines for particular kinds of transfers (for example, certain
transfers related to missiles or weapons of mass destruction).
In the post-COCOM period, the United States dramatically liberalized
export controls.
A new COCOM-like agreement, under which national exports of certain
militarily useful goods and technologies are subject to international
agreement, would enhance efforts to restrict technology transfers. The
United States should seek to negotiate such a new arrangement.
ii. The expiration of the Export Administration Act in 1994 has left
export controls under different legislative authority that, among
other things, carries lesser penalties for export violations than
those that can be imposed under the Act.
Following the expiration of the Export Administration Act in 1994,
export controls on dual-use items have been continued under the
provisions of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. This
law carries significantly lesser penalties for criminal and civil
violations of export controls than those that applied under the Export
Administration Act.
While the general criminal penalties of Title 18 of the U.S. Code may
be imposed under either scheme, administration of export controls
would be enhanced by a reauthorization of the Export Administration
Act that would restore more significant penalties for export control
violations.
iii. U.S. policy changes announced in 1995 that reduced the time
available for national security agencies to consider export licenses
need to be reexamined in light of the volume and complexity of
licensing activities.
New procedures and deadlines for processing Commerce Department
export license applications instituted in late 1995 placed national
security agencies under significant time pressures.
Commerce officials alone are less likely to have the expertise for
identifying national security implications of exports of militarily
useful technologies. While national security agencies may be informed
of applications, due time is needed for their consideration.
However, the time frame for consideration is not always sufficient for
the Department of Defense to determine whether a license should be
granted, or if conditions should be imposed.
In addition, the Intelligence Community has sought a role earlier in
the licensing process in order to evaluate the technology and end
user.
B. Dividing the licensing responsibilities for satellites between the
Departments of Commerce and State permitted the loss of U.S.
technology to the PRC.
The 1996 decision to give Commerce the lead role in satellite
exporting was properly reversed by the Congress.
Divided jurisdiction between Commerce and State over satellite export
licensing has facilitated the loss of U.S. technology to the PRC.
While licensing authority regarding rockets has always remained with
the State Department, in 1992 certain aspects of satellite licensing
were transferred to Commerce.
For nearly a three-year period thereafter, Commerce licenses did not
require Department of Defense monitors for launch campaigns.
Accordingly, U.S. Government officials did not monitor several
launches and launch campaigns. Given the PRC's efforts at technology
acquisition, it would be surprising if the PRC did not attempt to
exploit this situation.
In 1995, a Commerce Department official improperly authorized the
transfer, in the context of a launch failure investigation, of
information regarding rocket design that would almost certainly have
been prevented had the Department of State been consulted.
In October 1996, all remaining authority for commercial satellite
licensing was transferred to Commerce.
Legislation passed by Congress in 1998 eliminated the split
jurisdiction and assigned all licensing of satellite exports to the
Department of State.
C. U.S. policies relying on corporate self-policing to prevent
technology loss have not worked.
Corporate self-policing does not sufficiently account for the risks
posed by inherent conflicts of interest, and the lack of priority
placed on security in comparison to other corporate objectives.
To protect the national security interests of the United States, the
U.S. Government imposes substantial requirements on U.S. businesses
exporting technology to the PRC. These can include obtaining a
license, satisfying additional conditions imposed in the license,
paying for U.S. Government monitors, and providing security guards.
Under current policies, whether U.S. national security is in fact
protected from the loss of export-controlled information thus depends
in large part on the vigilance, good will, and efforts dedicated by
business to comply with lawful requirements.
Corporations may often face inherent conflicts of interest in complying
with U.S. export laws. Corporate interests that may conflict with
restricting exports as required by U.S. law include:
· Corporate goals to expand overseas markets
and to satisfy current or prospective
customers
· Urgent business priorities that compete for
the attention of corporate management
· An unwillingness to devote the financial
resources necessary for effective security
Protecting the national security interest simply may not be related to
improving a corporation's "bottom line."
In cases discussed later in this Report, two U.S. satellite
manufacturers, Hughes and Loral, failed to live by the requirements of
U.S. law. The failure of Hughes to obtain legally required licenses,
for example, reflects a deliberate decision to assist the PRC
immediately, rather than risk the possibility that a license
application would be delayed or rejected.
Such pressures may be great where important commercial opportunities
or relationships may seem to a corporation to be at stake.
U.S. policies relying on corporate self-policing to prevent technology
loss have not sufficiently accounted for the risks posed by inherent
conflicts of interest, and by the lack of priority placed on
dedicating resources to security in comparison to other corporate
objectives.
D. The PRC requires high performance computers (HPCs) for the
design, modeling, testing, and maintenance of advanced nuclear
weapons based on the nuclear weapons design information stolen
from the United States.
The United States relaxed restrictions on HPC sales in 1996; and
the United States has no effective way to verify that HPC
purchases reportedly made for commercial purposes are not diverted
to military uses.
The Select Committee judges that the PRC has in fact used HPCs to
perform nuclear weapons applications.
PRC research institutes with connections to PLA military industries
have access to numerous U.S.-built HPCs that could be used for
unlawful military applications. HPCs are important for many military
applications, and essential for some.
One key concern is diversion of U.S. HPCs to the PRC's nuclear
weapons program. If the PRC complies with the Comprehensive Test
Ban Treaty, then its need for HPCs to design, weaponize, deploy, and
maintain nuclear weapons will be greater than that of any other nation
possessing nuclear weapons, according to the Department of Energy.
HPCs are useful for two-dimensional and critical to three-dimensional
computer modeling that would be necessary for the PRC to develop,
modify, and maintain its nuclear weapons in the absence of physical
testing.
The utility of nuclear weapons computer modeling depends on the
amount of data available from actual nuclear weapons tests, the
computing capacity that is available, and programmer expertise. For
this reason, in the judgment of the Select Committee, the PRC has
targeted U.S. nuclear test data for espionage collection, which, if
successful, would reduce its HPC performance requirements.
Complete three-dimensional models, critical to stockpile maintenance
and assessment of the effect of major warhead modifications in the
absence of physical testing, require HPCs of one million MTOPS
(millions of theoretical operations-per-second, a measure of computer
performance and speed) or more. Assessing the effects of a new
warhead without testing would require three-dimensional modeling.
Although the precise utility of HPCs in the 2,000 to 10,000 MTOPS
range for two-dimensional modeling is unclear, these HPCs may be
powerful enough to help the PRC incorporate nuclear weapons design
information that it stole from the U.S. into delivery systems without
further testing.
In fact, the Select Committee judges that the PRC has been using
HPCs for nuclear weapons applications. The illegal diversion of
HPCs for the benefit of the PRC military is facilitated by the lack of
effective post-sale verifications of the locations and purposes for
which the computers are being used. HPC diversion for PRC military use
is also facilitated by the steady relaxation of U.S. export controls
over sales of HPCs.
Until 1998, there was no verification of the end uses of HPCs in the
PRC. Modest verification procedures were announced in June 1998, but
even if these are implemented fully, they will be insufficient.
Over the past several years, U.S. export controls on the sale of HPCs
to the PRC have been steadily relaxed. As a result, while the PRC had
virtually no HPCs in 1996, the PRC had over 600 U.S.-origin HPCs at
the end of 1998.
The PRC has demonstrated the capability to assemble an HPC using
U.S.-origin microprocessors. The Select Committee has concluded,
however, that the PRC has virtually no indigenous high-end computer
production capability. Moreover, while the PRC might attempt to
perform some HPC functions by other means, these computer
work-arounds remain difficult and imperfect.
Data from the Commerce Department and Defense Department indicate
that HPCs from the United States have been obtained by PRC
organizations involved in the research and development of:
· Missiles
· Satellites
· Spacecraft
· Submarines
· Aircraft
· Military systems components
· Command and control
· Communications
· Microwave and laser sensors
Given the lack of an effective verification regime, it is possible that
these HPCs have been diverted for military uses, which could include
the following:
· Incorporating or adapting nuclear weapons
designs
· Upgrading and maintaining nuclear and
chemical weapons
· Equipping mobile forces with high-technology
weapons
· Building a modern fleet of combat and combat
support aircraft and submarines
· Conducting anti-submarine warfare
· Developing a reliable, accurate ballistic
and cruise missile force
· Equalizing a battlefield with electronic or
information warfare
· Improving command, control, communications,
and intelligence capabilities
Finally, the Select Committee judges that nuclear testing data and
related computer codes are a target of PRC espionage, and that the
PRC's nuclear weapons programs would benefit from the illegal
acquisition of such information.
In conjunction with such data and codes, HPCs can be used to improve
nuclear weapons designs, performance, modeling, and nuclear stockpile
maintenance that would otherwise be extremely difficult or impossible
given the restrictions imposed by the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty.
E. The PRC has attempted to obtain U.S. machine tools and jet
engine technologies through fraud and diversions fromcommercial
end uses.
In one 1991 case studied by the Select Committee, the Department of
Commerce decontrolled jet engines without consulting either the
Defense Department or the State Department.
i. In 1994 and 1995 the PRC attempted to divert an export of
machine tools by McDonnell Douglas to military uses.
The Select Committee's classified Report includes significantly more
detail on this subject than this unclassified version. The Justice
Department has requested that the Select Committee not disclose the
details of much of its investigation into these matters to protect the
Justice Department's prosecution of the China National Aero-Technology
Import/Export Corporation (CATIC) and McDonnell Douglas.
ii. In 1991 the Commerce Department decontrolled Garrett jet
engines without consulting either the Defense Department or the
State Department.
This led to a PRC effort to acquire related jet engine production
technology. The Commerce Department was prepared to approve this
transfer, which was only thwarted when the Defense Department was
alerted by the U.S. Embassy in Beijing.
See the chapters High Performance Computers,
U.S. Export Policy Toward the PRC, and
Manufacturing Processes for a more detailed
discussion of the Select Committee's
investigation of these matters.
The PRC has vigorously pursued over the last two decades the
acquisition of foreign military technologies. These efforts represent
the official policy of the PRC and its Chinese Communist Party
leadership. The PRC seeks foreign military technology as part of its
efforts to place the PRC at the forefront of nations and to enable the
PRC to fulfill its international agenda. The PRC's long-run
geopolitical goals include incorporating Taiwan into the PRC and
becoming the primary power in Asia.
The PRC has not ruled out using force against Taiwan, and its thefts of
U.S. technology have enhanced its military capabilities for any such
use of force.
The PRC has also asserted territorial claims against other Southeast
Asian nations and Japan, and has used its military forces as leverage
in asserting these claims.
These PRC goals conflict with current U.S. interests in Asia and the
Pacific, and the possibility of a U.S.-PRC confrontation cannot be
dismissed.
A. The PRC has mounted a widespread effort to obtain U.S. military
technologies by any means - legal or illegal.
These pervasive efforts pose a particularly significant threat to
U.S. export control and counterintelligence efforts.
The PRC seeks military-related technology through a broad range of
activities that complicate U.S. counterintelligence efforts.
Many of these efforts are less centralized than was the case with those
of the Soviet Union. The number of PRC nationals who seek access to
U.S. technology is much greater than the number of persons who sought
similar kinds of information for the Soviet Union.
The Select Committee has determined that the Intelligence Community
is insufficiently focused on the threat posed by PRC intelligence and
the targeted effort to obtain militarily useful technology from the
United States. Due to our sustained focus on the Soviet Union during
the Cold War, intelligence collection against the PRC was not a top
priority for our intelligence agencies in those years.
For the last several years, the U.S. Intelligence Community has begun
to place a greater priority on the PRC. Nonetheless, the Intelligence
Community lacks sufficient Chinese linguists and needs increased
resources to address the challenge posed by the PRC's intelligence
collection efforts.
The FBI has inadequate resources in light of the extensive numbers of
PRC visitors, students, diplomats, business representatives, and
others who may be involved in intelligence and military-related
technology transfer operations in the United States.
B. Efforts to deny the PRC access to U.S. military technology are
complicated by the broad range of items in which the PRC is
interested, and by transfers to the PRC of Russian military and
dual-use technologies, which may make the consequences of the
PRC's thefts of U.S. technology more severe.
The PRC seeks and has acquired from the United States and elsewhere
a broad range of military and related technologies.
Russia, for example, has provided the PRC with extensive military
assistance and related technologies, including a number of complete
military systems. The Select Committee has been advised that the sheer
number of transfers of military equipment and technology to the PRC
from Russia, most of which have been a product of dramatically
increased PRC-Russian military cooperation since 1992, is vastly
greater than the number of transfers from the United States, most of
which are the result of PRC espionage.
Together, the added capabilities that the PRC has gained and continues
to gain from foreign sources makes it difficult to assess how quickly
the PRC will be able to make full use of any systems or technologies
stolen from the United States. For example, the PRC's reported
acquisition of solid-fuel and mobile missile launcher technologies, if
successfully combined with stolen U.S. nuclear design information,
will enable the PRC to field a robust road-mobile, intercontinental
ballistic missile threat to the United States sooner than would
otherwise have been possible.
C. The PRC uses commercial and political contacts to advance its
efforts to obtain U.S. military, as well as commercial, technology.
The PRC has adopted policies in recent years aimed at increasing its
influence within the United States in order to increase access to U.S.
military, as well as commercial, technology.
To this end, the PRC has used access to its markets to induce U.S.
business interests to provide military-related technology.
The PRC also uses access to its markets to induce U.S. businesses to
lobby in behalf of common goals, such as liberalized export standards
and practices.
Agents tied to the PRC's military industries who have illegally
provided political contributions may have used these contributions to
gain access to U.S. military and commercial technology.
D. The PRC has proliferated nuclear, missile, and space-related
technologies to a number of countries.
The PRC is one of the leading proliferators of complete ballistic
missile systems and missile components in the world.
The PRC has sold complete ballistic missile systems, for example, to
Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, and missile components to a number of
countries including Iran and Pakistan. The PRC has proliferated
military technology to Iran, Pakistan, and North Korea.
In 1991, the PRC agreed to adhere to the April 1987 Missile
Technology Control Regime (MTCR) guidelines, but the PRC has not
accepted the revisions to those guidelines issued in 1993. The 1993
MTCR guidelines increase the kinds of missile systems subject to
controls and call for a "strong presumption to deny" both sales of
complete missile systems and components that could be used in
ballistic missiles.
The PRC has provided, or is providing, assistance to the missile and
space programs of a number of countries according to the Congressional
Research Service. These countries include, but are not limited to:
· Iran. The PRC has provided Iran with
ballistic missile technology, including
guidance components and the recent transfer
of telemetry equipment. The PRC reportedly is
providing Iran with solid-propellant missile technology.
Additionally, the PRC provided Iran with the
95-mile range CSS-8 ballistic missile. Since
the mid-1980s, the PRC has transferred C-802
anti-ship cruise missiles to Iran. The PRC
has also provided assistance to Iran's nuclear
programs.
· Pakistan. The PRC has provided Pakistan with
a wide range of assistance. The PRC
reportedly supplied Pakistan with
CSS-X-7/M-11 mobile missile launchers and
reportedly has provided Pakistan with the facilities
necessary to produce M-11 missiles. The PRC
provides Pakistan with assistance on uranium
enrichment, ring magnets, and other
technologies that could be used in Pakistan's
nuclear weapons program.
· Saudi Arabia. The PRC provided a complete
CSS-2 missile system to Saudi Arabia in 1987.
The conventionally-armed missile has a range
of 1,200 to 1,900 miles.
· North Korea. The Select Committee judges
that the PRC has assisted weapons and
military-related programs in North Korea.
The Select Committee is aware of information of further PRC
proliferation of missile and space technology that the Clinton
administration has determined cannot be publicly disclosed without
affecting national security.
See the chapter PRC Acquisition of U.S.
Technology for more detailed discussion of
the Select Committee's investigation of these
matters.
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