http://news.ft.com/ft/gx.cgi/ftc?pagename=View&c=Article&cid=FT46EXQSMWC&live=true&tagid=IXLT95DZ1BC&reutr=1
China Says President's Jet Bugged -FT
(Reuters) - January 19 2002 02:53
LONDON (Reuters) - China has said its intelligence officers found more
than 20 spying devices in a Boeing 767 meant to become President Jiang
Zemin's official plane after it was delivered from the U.S., the Financial
Times said on Saturday.
Citing Chinese officials, the newspaper said it was unclear when the
aircraft was fitted with the bugs, said to be tiny and operated by satellite.
The devices were detected after the plane emitted a strange static whine
during test flights in China in September, shortly after it was delivered.
One device was found in a lavatory and another in the headboard of the
presidential bed.
The discovery came ahead of a planned summit between President Bush
and Jiang in Beijing next month. The Chinese president was said to be
furious about the find, the FT said.
The aircraft wa s made at the Boeing factory in Seattle and then fitted with
VIP equipment and upholstery by another company. The plane was under
surveillance by Chinese officials throughout, the newspaper said.
A Boeing spokesman declined to comment on the report.
Chinese officials said the security forces had launched an
investigation into
possible negligence and some 20 air force officers had been held
for
questioning, the FT said.
The U.S. and China clashed over espionage issues in April last
year when
a Chinese fighter jet and U.S. spy plane collided over the South
China
Sea, resulting in the death of the Chinese pilot and the grounding
of the
U.S. plane in China.
