June 27, 2000
House votes against
Xinhua
By Rowan Scarborough and Stephen Dinan
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
The House voted overwhelmingly last night to tell
the State Department to block China's state-run
news agency from occupying an apartment building it
bought that overlooks the Pentagon.
The measure, an amendment to State's fiscal
2001 appropriations, passed 367-34. Only
Democrats voted against the amendment.
The amendment prevents the department from
spending any funds to approve the office move by
the Xinhua News Agency.
Rep. David Vitter, Louisiana Republican, said the
amendment he sponsored "sends a very strong and
telling message to the State Department that they
must block" the transaction.
While the measure would not take effect until the
new fiscal year begins Oct. 1 � by which time the
State Department likely would have either approved
or disapproved the sale � the House wanted to be
on record in opposition.
Defense analysts say Xinhua often acts as an
intelligence-gathering arm of the Chinese government
and the building could provide the opportunity to
covertly monitor Pentagon comings and goings.
The Washington Times reported last week that
the Xinhua News Agency had bought the 32-unit
apartment building at 1515 S. Arlington Ridge Road.
Upper apartments have a direct view of the Pentagon
"E-ring," the corridor where senior Defense
Department officials, including Defense Secretary
William S. Cohen, have their offices.
Mr. Vitter called the Xinhua location "an ideally
suited spy tower, ideal to capture our military
secrets."
Rep. Harold Rogers, Kentucky Republican and
chairman of a House Appropriations subcommittee,
said that he has been in contact with the State
Department since The Washington Times reported
Xinhua's purchase last week.
"It's my expectation they will not approve the
sale," he said.
Xinhua made the $4.6 million purchase June 15
and plans to use the seven-story building as its living
and work headquarters in Washington. But the State
Department has the power to force China to sell the
building.
The service bought the apartment building from a
U.S. real estate investor. The same complex had
been owned by the communist East German
government in the 1970s and 1980s.
The State Department treats the news agency as
an extension of the Chinese Embassy and, under the
1985 Foreign Missions Act, Xinhua was required to
apply to the department to buy land in the United
States. But department officials said last week that,
contrary to Chinese statements, it has received no
request from China for Xinhua to buy the apartment
building.
Xinhua, in a dispatch from Beijing over the
weekend, again asserted that it requested State's
approval May 22. The State Department yesterday
reiterated that it received no such petition.
"We did not receive any such notification. I don't
know if there is some problem with the mail,"
spokesman Philip Reeker said in an interview. "I
expect them to show up with a copy of the letter.
They haven't yet."
Under the law, State has 60 days to study a
request. Since China is a communist country, the law
also subjects Xinhua's purchase to a security review
by the Defense Department and the FBI, which
conducts domestic counterintelligence. The
department said last week it is starting a security
review of the location of the Pentagon Ridge
Apartments across Interstate 395 from the Pentagon.
Zhang Yuanyuan, a spokesman at the Chinese
Embassy in Washington said last week, "We don't
need the permission."
"Xinhua is a company. As long as they go through
the legally required procedures, the law does not
require them to go through a different procedure. We
have been following the laws and regulations of the
U.S. in Virginia all along. If something is wrong, the
lawyers should know that."
A department official said yesterday they have
contacted several Chinese government agencies and
the news agency itself, but haven't made any decision
how to pursue the matter.
The news agency's bureau chief did not return
phone calls yesterday but last week insisted to The
Times that Xinhua isn't an intelligence arm of the
Chinese government.
Established in 1931, Xinhua serves as an agency
of the Chinese government. On politically sensitive
matters, Xinhua dispatches are disseminated to
state-owned papers in China, which must use the
Xinhua version and are not allowed to do their own
reporting. In some places, such as Hong Kong,
Xinhua serves as a de facto representative office of
the Chinese government. The agency has 34
domestic bureaus and 104 overseas bureaus.
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Kadosh, Kadosh, Kadosh, YHVH, TZEVAOT
FROM THE DESK OF: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
*Mike Spitzer* <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
~~~~~~~~ <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
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Shalom, A Salaam Aleikum, and to all, A Good Day.
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