- WASHINGTON (AP) _ A U.S. satellite company gave China detailed information
on improving rocket reliability with no oversight from U.S. officials guarding
against release of sensitive data, according to an internal Pentagon report
obtained today. The classified report, which was being reviewed for release
today, concludes that Hughes Space and Communications Co., a California-based
maker of satellites and other aerospace components, provided China with
extensive help following the January 1995 failure of a Chinese rocket launch.
The Long March 2E rocket was carrying a Hughes-built APSTAR II telecommunications
satellite.
While the help from Hughes did not change the strategic balance between
the United States and China, the Pentagon concluded, the Hughes assistance
raises concerns about violating export restrictions and ``potentially contributing
to China's missile capabilities.'' The extent of China's help from Hughes
and other U.S. satellite makers is the subject of several federal and congressional
investigations. Stamped ``secret,'' the Pentagon's 13-page ``initial assessment,''
a copy of which was obtained today by The Associated Press, presents the
most detailed government findings to date on whether China gained information
in responding to commercial satellite launch failures that would apply
to its ballistic-missile programs. ``Hughes conducted a broad, in-depth
investigation that involved significant technical and detailed interchanges
between Hughes and Chinese experts,'' the Pentagon reported. ``The investigation's
conclusions that were provided to the Chinese were very specific and identified
the need for modifications in the Chinese launch vehicle faring design
and launch operations.'' Faring refers to the shroud that covers either
military or commercial payloads in rockets.
Much of the Hughes accident investigation, done side by side with Chinese
officials, covered such areas as calculating atmospheric effects on rocket
guidance systems and properly attaching rocket payloads to the vehicle
frame _ information useful in either commercial or military contexts. The
Pentagon report is sharply critical of the Commerce Department, which had
jurisdiction in 1995 over the crash investigation and Hughes' interactions
with the Chinese. It is sure to bolster the position of lawmakers, such
as Sen. Thad Cochran, R-Miss., who argued successfully last year that jurisdiction
over satellite exports to China should be returned to the State Department,
which is deemed more security conscious. The report cites ``a lack of government
restrictions'' imposed by Commerce over the crash investigators. ``There
is no evidence in the documents reviewed by DOD that there were any limits
imposed on the APSTAR II investigation by the Commerce Department or any
other U.S. government agency,'' the Pentagon report concluded. Because
the assistance provided to the Chinese by Hughes constituted a ``defense
service'' as defined by U.S. export law, it was ``clearly beyond the scope
of Commerce export control jurisdiction,'' the Pentagon reported. That
finding could prove highly valuable to Hughes, which has argued repeatedly
that it followed Commerce Department guidance in conducting the rocket
accident investigation. A Hughes spokesman did not immediately return a
call seeking comment. A Commerce spokesman referred all questions to the
Pentagon.
The Pentagon report makes clear that the Chinese could use the insights
gained from Hughes for improving military rocket systems, though it says
there is no direct evidence indicating the Chinese did so. Hughes' reports
to the Chinese ``were sufficiently specific to inform the Chinese of the
kinds of launch vehicle design or operational changes that would make the
Long March 2E, and perhaps other launch vehicles as well, more reliable,''
the Pentagon concluded. The knowledge gained by China from Hughes, ``did
not likely alter the strategic military balance between the United States
and China,'' the report said. ``However, in light of the strict standards
of U.S. policy not to assist China in improving its satellite and missile-related
capabilities, ... (the Defense Department) believes that the scope and
content of the launch failure investigation conducted by Hughes with the
Chinese following the January 1995 APSTAR II failure raises national security
concerns both with regard to violating those standards and to potentially
contributing to China's missile capabilities.''
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