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Technology Stocks : Loral Space & Communications -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: dougjn who wrote (3345)	5/22/1998 5:08:00 PM
From: Sawtooth	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 10852

Oh, phooey. After closing news. Ucky-ucky. Let the weekend begin. Friday May 22 4:21 PM EDT W.House knew of allegations against Loral By Deborah Zabarenko WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Clinton approved a deal for aerospace firm Loral Space and Communications Ltd. to launch a satellite from China, even though the White House knew of an alleged criminal security breach by the firm, declassified documents showed Friday. A State Department official who deals with foreign satellite launches said in a phone call with a staff member of Clinton's National Security Council (NSC) that Loral may have violated U.S. law that bars the transfer of sensitive missile technology to the Chinese, according to hand-written notes of the conversation. "(Will) Lowell (the State Department official) thinks it's criminal, likely to be indicted. Knowing and unlawful," read the notes of a telephone call between Lowell and the staffer. But the notes continued: "Hard to pull plug w/out indictments at least," and "Indictment cd blck launch. Have auth. to block, so indictment might do it." According to documents released to members of Congress and shown to reporters, Loral's request for a new satellite launch raised concerns from the start about the alleged security breach in 1996 after a previous failed launch in China. The Justice Department is investigating whether, in the course of a post-mortem of the satellite launch aboard a Chinese Long March-3B rocket, Loral officials may have given information that the Chinese could use to launch a missile or other military spacecraft. "There is the potential for sanctions against Space Systems/Loral (the unauthorized defense services provided to Chinese launch vehicle program) which would require the denial of licenses for missile equipment or technology," NSC officials wrote in a memo to their chief, Sandy Berger. The final recommendation that the satellite launch go ahead, dated Feb. 18, 1998, bears the stamp "the president has seen" and also Clinton's checkmark by the word "approve." The document includes references to "potential controversy" over the investigation of Loral but noted that neither the State nor Commerce departments, which were required to license parts of the mission, customarily would withhold licenses while any investigation was proceeding. Loral's chairman, Bernard Schwartz, has donated almost $1 million to the U.S. Democratic candidates over the last four years, and one note to Berger noted Loral would lose $4 million to $6 million if the launch was delayed. Indeed, in the final days before the approval, Loral's vice president for governmental affairs Thomas Boss wrote to Berger: "If a decision is not forthcoming in the next day or so, we stand to lose the contract. In fact, even if the decision is favorable, we will lose substantial amounts of money with each passing day." Boss continued, "Bernard Schwartz had intended to raise this issue with you at the Blair dinner (a White House dinner honoring British Prime Minister Tony Blair in early February), but missed you in the crowd. In any event we would greatly appreciate your help in getting a prompt decision for us." The White House and Loral have denied any connection between Schwartz's campaign contributions and any change in U.S. foreign policy. The documents were released at the request of Rep. Benjamin Gilman, a New York Republican who chairs the House International Relations Committee. White House spokesman Joe Lockhart said the documents reflect "the serious policy discussion that occurred among the White House, the State Department and the Department of Defense on the issue of a commercial satellite launch." In Beijing on Friday, an official of the satellite launcher China Great Wall Industry Corp said no improper technology transfer took place. Liu Zhixiong, vice president of the Chinese firm, told a late-night news conference that foreign scientists had merely reviewed results of a Chinese investigation into a 1996 satellite launch failure and did not pass on any technology. ^REUTERS@

To: dougjn who wrote (3345)	5/22/1998 5:26:00 PM
From: Dragonfly	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 10852

This bears repeating: A lot of brains over there to pick amongst for your elite national security programs. Far better for us to make them think they can live very well with us.... I've spent a couple years working in an organization that was staffed mostly with chinese and taiwanese nationals. This was in the USA. I think the idea that the US is somehow holding out high technology from china is a foolish pipedream. The Chinese education and scientific communities, while not as well funded, are definately first rate. I've worked with them on projects at the cutting edge of science and technology. Interestingly, this R & D was funded in a large part by the Department of Defense. The reality is that as the world advances in both science and technology, China is increasingly becomming one of the great contributers to the pool of understanding. At the same time, only thru trade will we be able to foster the transition to democracy that china has been going thru. And, lets not make a mistake, china is turning into at capitalism, and has clearly taken steps toward democracy. While changing the direction of a society consisting of billions of people takes time, we should not miss the serious changes that have occured. The establishment's reaction to Tienamen square was the lashing out of an organization that knows what the inevitable is, but couldn't handle it when things happened too fast. The history of modern china includes at least a half dozen major pro-democracy movements, each one more successful than the last. What the great leaders of our country, including Nixon, Carter, Reagan, Bush and Clinton, realize about China is this: China knows the consequences of a nuclear war. China knows the power and danger of having such a large population. China knows that only thru trade with the west can it reach the levels of efficiency to feed, clothe and raise the standard of living of its people. And, finally, given the cultural framework and traditions of the chinese people, China is moving toward a capitalism and a democracy. Even if its not as fast as we and Chinese students would like. Someone in the Republican party has to realize how they have undermined their own goals with yesterday's legislation. Somehow, this became a post that belongs on the politics board. I'll copy it there, and if you want to flame me, maybe we should do it there. Dragonfly