America's Future Update on China

Update on National Security

Sensational new information has just been revealed in a new book by former Energy Depart-ment intelligence chief Notra Trulock. He charges that fired Los Alamos nuclear scientist Wen Ho Lee provided sensitive weapons data to China during unreported meetings with nuclear-weapons scientists. Trulock was Energy Intelligence Director from 1994 to 1998. Lee is a Taiwan-born scientist who worked in Los Alamos' X Division, which designs U.S. nuclear weapons.

Lee was the U.S. government's chief suspect in the compromise of W-88 warhead secrets to China. He pleaded guilty in September 2001 to one count of mishandling classified information, including computer codes used to design nuclear weapons, but he was never charged with espionage.

Trulock's new book, Code Name Kindred Spirit, outlines new details on the Wen Ho Lee case and Chinese espionage against U.S. nuclear-weapons facilities, which U.S. intelligence agencies concluded had led to the compromise of the most secret details of U.S. nuclear weapons. Trulock further charges that the FBI deliberately mishandled the counterespionage investigation of Mr. Lee because Lee and his wife had previously worked as FBI informants. Washington Times, 1-20-03

Update on Free Trade

The State Department has charged two leading U.S. aerospace companies, Boeing and Hughes Electronics, with 123 violations of export laws in connection with the transfer of satellite and rocket data to China during the 1990s. American companies competed for Chinese business by offering to transfer aerospace data in connection with launchings of their satellites. The companies face fines of up to $500,000 for each charge (totaling $60 million). The State Depart-ment letter, which is the civil equivalent of an indictment, mentions three separate cases in which company officials helped Chinese entities determine what went wrong on failed launchings.
New York Times, 1-1-03

The first anniversary of China's World Trade Organization (WTO) membership passed with U.S. and other corporations claiming that China has failed to open up its markets. General Motors and Volkswagen are fed up. Foreign companies hoping for a slice of the car-financing business find that China has no basic rules on operations. China demands $21 to $126 million to set up each branch office of a non-Chinese bank. Insurance companies have not been allowed in. A European financial services chief based in Beijing says: "What was put down in the WTO agreement has not been delivered." Straits Times, 12-11-02

Update on Human Rights

China has the most extensive Internet censorship in the world, regularly denying local users access to 19,000 websites that the government deems threatening, according to a study by Harvard Law School researchers. Beijing blocked thousands of the most popular news, political and religious sites, along with selected entertainment and educational sites. Chinese censors sometimes punish people who seek forbidden information. The study offers evidence that the Internet may be easier to control than older forms of communication. Chinese censors can tap some telephones or fax messages or read mail, but cannot monitor every call, fax, and letter. The Internet, in contrast, has common checkpoints and all traffic passes through routers, so China can block all access to thousands of sites, including Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, Western religious sites, and major U.S. news sites. New York Times, 12-4-02

Just a week after releasing its most prominent political prisoner, Xu Wenli (who spent 16 of the past 21 years in prison), and sending him to the U.S., China cracked down on less-well-known protesters. Police charged two leaders of worker demonstrations (against the government's failure to pay promised wages) with subversion, a crime that carries the death penalty.New York Times, 1-2-03