-Caveat Lector-
By Bill Gertz
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
------------------------------------------------------------------------
<Picture: T>he Pentagon said Thursday that disclosures about Chinese spying at
a U.S. nuclear laboratory will not alter plans to bring a group of People's
Liberation Army officers to a similar laboratory in New Mexico this year.
"At this point, I know of no plan to cut back on our military-to-military
contacts," said Pentagon spokesman Capt. Michael Doubleday.
In Antigua, Guatemala, President Clinton Thursday denied charges by
congressional Republicans that his administration ignored Chinese espionage at
Los Alamos National Laboratory, where U.S. nuclear-warhead secrets leaked to
Beijing's agents in the 1980s.
"We did not ignore evidence," Mr. Clinton said during the last day of a
visit to Central America. "Quite the contrary, we acted on it. I think the
record is that we acted aggressively."
According to an internal Pentagon plan released to The Washington Times
last month, the Pentagon will hold more than 80 activities this year with PLA
officials, including high-level visits to China by Defense Secretary William
S. Cohen and Marine Corps Commandant Gen. Charles Krulak.
As part of the exchanges, the Pentagon plans to bring a group of PLA
officers to Sandia National Laboratory in New Mexico. A document outlining the
"game plan" for the exchanges states that a PLA
-- Continued from Front Page --
delegation will attend a "workshop" in October or November at Sandia, where a
"cooperative monitoring center" is located.
Chinese intelligence operations at nearby Los Alamos National Laboratory
in the 1980s led to the loss of U.S. nuclear secrets. On Monday, Energy
Secretary Bill Richardson fired Wen Ho Lee, a longtime Los Alamos employee
suspected of providing design information on this country's most advanced
nuclear warhead to China. He has not been charged.
Capt. Doubleday said he knows of "no thought that is being given to
curtailing" the exchanges as a result of the case.
Capt. Doubleday said it is to "our advantage" to maintain contacts with
the Chinese military as part of the Clinton administration's conciliatory
"engagement" policy, "even in the face of some of these alleged incidents."
Asked if the Chinese military gains from the exchanges, Capt. Doubleday
said: "I think that although there may be some benefits to the Chinese, our
overall view is that any information that we share with the Chinese is
information that is not detrimental to the United States."
Col. Richard Bridges, another Pentagon spokesman, said later that the PLA
visit to Sandia is still "on the table." However, planning for the visit is
still being worked out, he said.
Al Santoli, an aide to Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, California Republican, who
specializes in Chinese affairs, said the Pentagon's consideration of the
Sandia visit in light of Chinese actions is "unconscionable."
"They should cancel it as a message to the Chinese military that any type
of military cooperation should include their scaling back on aggressive
acquisition, especially through espionage, of our military technology," Mr.
Santoli said in an interview.
Mr. Santoli said Sandia is where the most important nuclear-weapons
research takes place, and canceling the PLA visit there would be a sign that
the United States will not tolerate nuclear spying.
Republicans in Congress have expressed anger over what they say were
efforts by the Clinton administration to hide the Chinese spying from
Congress. Two Republican presidential candidates also called for White House
National Security Adviser Samuel R. Berger to be fired for his handling of the
case.
"I believe the record is clear that we did respond in an appropriate
way," Mr. Clinton said. The president also rejected calls for Mr. Berger to
resign.
The president defended his China policy from critics, who say engagement
has undermined U.S. national security, first from improper satellite
technology that boosted Chinese missiles, and also from earlier thefts of
nuclear-warhead design data.
As for the spying at U.S. weapons labs, "We have investigated it, and we
continue to investigate it," Mr. Clinton said.
"We have dramatically increased our counterintelligence. I believe we
have taken all appropriate steps. I do not believe that that evidence
justifies an isolated, no-contact relationship with China," he said.
At the Justice Department, Deputy Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr.
said Thursday the administration was not slow in responding to the spying
accusations and that the inquiry was given the "highest priority." He also
denied that political considerations delayed the probe.
"The Justice Department and the CIA are conducting investigations into
events that allegedly took place at nuclear-weapons facilities during the
'80s," he said. "We have fully and regularly informed the appropriate parts of
Congress about the conduct of these matters."
Mr. Rohrabacher first uncovered the Pentagon's program of expanded
military contacts with China last month. He asked Mr. Cohen in a recent letter
why the Pentagon has agreed to help Chinese military officials learn about
U.S. military logistics and support and weapons-acquisition programs.
The Pentagon's military-exchange program calls for bringing PLA officers
to the United States for meetings. The Chinese are sending officials from all
services that are involved in military logistics -- activities to arm and
equip forces -- as well as military acquisition, which could be helpful to
China in building new weapons.
The Chinese also are scheduled to observe a parachute drop by the Army's
82nd Airborne Division.
Air Force transport jets will visit China this year, and the exchange
plans also call for PLA officials to fly to the U.S. aircraft carrier
Constellation during its deployment in the western Pacific in July.
�Andrew Cain in Guatemala and Jerry Seper contributed to this report.
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