December 30, 1998
Web posted at: 4:06 p.m. EST (2106 GMT)

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Assistance given to China's missile programs by two U.S. companies harmed national security interests, a House committee concluded Wednesday.

The House Select Committee on National Security, which has been investigating technology transfers to China since June, also concluded that Chinese officials engaged in a conspiracy to obtain U.S. technology and convert it to military uses.

"United States' transfer of technology to the People's Republic of China has been the target of serious PRC efforts over the last two decades," said Rep. Christopher Cox (R-California), the committee's chairman.

"These transfers are not limited to missile satellite technology but cover militarily significant technology," he said.

The report is partially classified, and Cox wouldn't elaborate on its details, other than to say it looks at the relationship between the two countries during both Republican and Democratic administrations. Unclassified parts of the report eventually will be made public, he said.

Sources told CNN that both Hughes Electronics Corp. and Loral Space & Communications were involved in the technology transfers. Both companies used Chinese rockets to launch their satellites, and both are accused of helping Chinese rocket scientists improve their technology after some of those launches failed.

Some military experts believe the assistance allowed the Chinese not only to improve satellite launch capabilities but also to enhance their long-range ballistic missile program.

The committee's report has the potential to broadly impact U.S. policy toward China. The committee made 38 separate recommendations and will forward the report to the Clinton administration. Committee officials also say they plan to introduce legislation based on some of their findings.

Cox said members of the committee -- made up of five Republicans and four Democrats -- worked closely together to reach a bipartisan finding.

Rep. Norman Dicks (D-Washington) agreed that the report's conclusions were the result of a bipartisan effort, and he said he has been assured by the White House that it will carefully consider the committee's recommendations.

"They recognize this is a bipartisan effort that has yielded a consensus product," Dicks said. "That isn't easy to do in the climate that we were operating in "