-Caveat Lector-
"Administration officials admitted for the first time that China
obtained classified information on the NEUTRON BOMB ..."
CIA: China Stole US Weapons Secrets
By JOHN DIAMOND
.c The Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) -- China is a few years away from fielding improved nuclear
weapons with the help of classified information gained by spying on the
United States, according to a U.S. intelligence damage assessment of Chinese
espionage.
In addition to gaining improved weaponry, including lightweight warheads for
use on multiple-warhead ICBMs, China may also be more likely to spread its
older weapons technology to other countries as its own weaponry improves, a
U.S. intelligence team concluded.
In a long-awaited damage assessment, administration officials disclosed
Wednesday for the first time that China gathered classified information not
just on the W-88 warhead and the neutron bomb but on ``several'' modern U.S.
warheads -- particularly ``re-entry vehicles,'' the nuclear weapons mounted
on multiple-warhead rockets.
The assessment made clear that China's espionage efforts were likely to
continue.
``China obtained at least basic design information on several modern U.S.
re-entry vehicles,'' according to an unclassified version of the assessment.
``Significant deficiencies remain in the Chinese weapons program. The Chinese
almost certainly are using aggressive collection efforts to address
deficiencies.''
China has denied the espionage charges, saying its own scientists achieved
improvements in nuclear weapons design.
In terms of damage to U.S. national security, the conclusions of the new
assessment were guarded.
U.S. intelligence said it could not determine whether China has passed
classified U.S. nuclear information to other countries. But the assessment
reasoned that ``Having obtained more modern U.S. nuclear technology, the
Chinese might be less concerned about sharing their older technology.''
The assessment also emphasized that China has yet to deploy an improved
weapon based on the information obtained through espionage at the U.S.
nuclear weapons laboratories and elsewhere.
``To date, the aggressive Chinese collection effort has not resulted in any
apparent modernization of their deployed strategic force or any new nuclear
weapons deployment,'' the assessment concluded.
But a senior intelligence official speaking on condition of anonymity said
the multi-agency assessment team predicted in its classified report that
China would field improved weapons within a few years.
As a result of the loss of secrets, ``future Chinese weapons will look more
like ours,'' the official said.
The Chinese weapons intelligence-gathering effort exploited open as well as
classified sources, the former including such venues such as public
conferences and scientific exchanges.
President Clinton, who was briefed on the findings Wednesday, ordered a
review to assess potential vulnerability to espionage beyond the U.S. nuclear
weapons laboratories.
``Measures to protect sensitive nuclear weapons information must be
constantly scrutinized,'' Clinton said in a statement.
Republicans have accused his administration of being lax in responding to the
FBI's initial concerns in 1995 about possible Chinese espionage at U.S.
weapons labs. The issue followed on the heels of allegations that the
administration promoted commercial satellite exports that allowed Beijing to
improve its ballistic missiles.
The FBI's nuclear weapons lab probe focused on a Taiwanese-born American at
Los Alamos National Laboratory, N.M., suspected of passing nuclear secrets to
China. The probe came to light this year.
Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Richard Shelby said the briefing
Wednesday made it clear that Chinese spying continued into the Clinton
administration. Clinton has said he knows of no espionage breaches at the
weapons labs during his tenure.
``It confirms my worst fears,'' Shelby, R-Ala., said of the damage
assessment. ``We made it easy for the Chinese because of weak security at our
national labs. ... We took too long to find out what was going on and we
still don't know how deep and wide the problem is.''
Rep. Norm Dicks, D-Wash., ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence
Committee, said that while the report ``demonstrates a terrible intelligence
failure'' by the United States, the long-term security implications are less
clear because the Chinese have not yet fielded new weapons.
China has an estimated 18 to 20 ICBMs and perhaps 400 short- and medium-range
missiles -- all with single-warhead nuclear weapons. This arsenal pales in
comparison to the U.S. cache of about 10,000 nuclear warheads.
Beijing decided not to try to keep up quantitatively in the arms race.
Instead, it is trying to improve the credibility of its nuclear threat by
improving its retaliatory capability, according to the intelligence
assessment. Doing so involves developing lighter, more mobile and therefore
more survivable warheads, such as the W-88, a miniaturized warhead mounted on
the eight-warhead Trident II submarine-launched missile.
The multi-agency assessment team led Robert Walpole, the CIA official in
charge of strategic and nuclear issues, was overseen by an outside panel of
experts headed by retired Adm. David Jeremiah.
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