Copyright 1999 The Washington Post
The Washington Post
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July 2, 1999, Friday, Sunday, Final Edition
SECTION: A SECTION; Pg. A18
LENGTH: 536 words
HEADLINE: U.S. to Ease
Computer Export Controls; Civilian Rules Loosen, Military Ones Tighten for China, Other Markets
BYLINE: Vernon Loeb, Washington Post Staff Writer
BODY:
The Clinton administration said yesterday it will ease restrictions on the
types of computers that can be sold to China and other emerging markets,
averting a
"technology train wreck" forecast by leading computer companies that complained that the old guidelines
were out of date.
The administration's new regulations, unveiled at the White House by Chief of
Staff John D. Podesta, will immediately enable the computer industry to sell
far more powerful computers to civilian users in China and 50 other nations
that pose weapons proliferation risks without obtaining
export licenses.
The new regulations maintain a system of tighter
controls for
computer exports to military users in those nations, but nonetheless triples the threshold for
export licenses from 2,000 to 6,500 MTOPS, or millions of theoretical
operations per second, the standard
measurement of computing speed. The regulations lift the threshold for civilian
sales much more, from 7,000 to 12,300 MTOPS.
"What was controlled in 1993 as a supercomputer is now less powerful than the
most-used laptops," said Commerce Secretary William Daley, who joined Podesta at a news briefing.
He held up a Sony PlayStation video game computer scheduled for sale this
Christmas and said that it would require an export license for sale by a U.S.
firm to China as a
"supercomputer" without the new regulations.
The new standard for computer exports to military users must undergo a
six-month review by Congress before it takes effect and could be challenged by
some leading Republicans who believe that the Chinese military has used
powerful U.S. computers to model nuclear weapons and improve its battle
capabilities.
But even Rep. Christopher Cox (R-Calif.), who chaired
a House select committee that investigated China's theft of nuclear secrets and
sensitive military technology, signaled that he might be willing to support the
new standard for military sales, as long as the administration works to ensure
that the most powerful supercomputers go into the hands of civilians, and not
foreign militaries that could use them for nuclear weapons applications.
Rep. David Dreier (R-Calif.), chairman of the House Rules Committee, said he
backed the administration plan and would be willing to consider a one-time
waiver of the traditional six-month waiting period under certain circumstances.
Louis V. Gerstner Jr., chairman and CEO of International Business Machines
Corp., led a chorus of computer executives in applauding the regulations but
said a new system is needed so that the government's export guidelines can keep
pace with technological advances.
"This is the information
age," Gerstner said.
"Our policies need to reflect that."
Beyond liberalizing
export controls on
computer sales to China and other nations posing proliferation risks, the
administration increased the
export threshold for computer sales to South Korea, South Africa and more than 100
other nations that pose only minimal proliferation risks. The administration
also moved four nations, Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic and Brazil, from
the low proliferation category to a grouping of closely allied nations for
which there are no export controls.
LOAD-DATE: July 02, 1999
