China has missiles aimed at U.S. targets, officials say

'This is not something we are overly concerned about'

In this story:

• No 'detargeting' agreement
• 'A very good relationship with China'
• Republicans still want defense system
• China has 'no-first-use' policy
• Related Stories and Sites

May 1, 1998
Web posted at: 7:41 p.m. EDT (2341 GMT)

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- U.S. officials confirmed Friday a published report claiming that 13 of China's 18 long-range nuclear missiles are aimed at the United States.

While U.S. Defense Secretary William Cohen declined to comment on the report, other U.S. officials said the Washington Times report, taken from a top-secret CIA document, is essentially accurate.

But the officials said there was nothing surprising about the report and that, in the words of one, "This is not something we are overly concerned about."

In playing down the issue, White House officials noted that the United States does not have a "detargeting" agreement with China similar to those it has with Russia and other countries. They also pointed out that China keeps its nuclear warheads in storage, which eliminates the risk of an accidental launch.

Bruce Blair, a nuclear weapons specialist with the Brookings Institution, says the United States could plug Chinese coordinates into its weapons and launch them at China more quickly than China could place a warhead on a missile and launch it at the United States.

'A very good relationship with China'

The United States has about 6 ,000 intercontinental range nuclear warheads

The issue was raised in light of President Clinton's plans to travel to Beijing next month and his repeated claim -- in several State of the Union addresses -- that no nuclear weapons are pointed at the United States.

"There is not a single solitary nuclear missile pointed at an American child tonight," Clinton said in October 1996. "Not one. Not a single one."

The Washington Times cited a "top-secret" CIA report that says 13 Chinese CSS-4 missiles with a range of 8,000 miles are aimed at the United States, and that the other five are aimed at Russia and other countries.

At the taping of CNN's "Evans and Novak," which airs Saturday, Cohen said he could not comment on "intelligence matters", but said, "We have a very good working relationship with China. There's always concern about missile technology proliferation. We are working very closely with the Chinese to cut down on the proliferation of missile technology."

Cohen was asked about Clinton's 1996 "not a single one" statement.

"He made the statement in relation to the Russian nuclear arsenal," Cohen said. "Their missiles are no longer pointed at the United States. It was true at that time, and it may still be true today. I'm not going to comment on intelligence matters."

Republicans still want defense system

Clinton's remarks have boosted the administration's arms-control policies and dampened enthusiasm for a costly national missile defense system advocated by many Republicans.

"He has used the bully pulpit to lull the Congress and the American people into a false sense of security," said Rep. Curt Weldon, R- Pennsylvania, a leading advocate for a national missile defense system.

The United States entered into a "detargeting" agreement with Russia in 1994 under which each country promised not to aim their missiles at each other. The agreement is largely symbolic because it can't be verified and because missiles can be quickly retargeted.

The Pentagon will not say if U.S. missiles are currently aimed at Chinese cities.

"It's a secret," said one military official.

However, a Chinese official said that China hopes to enter into a detargeting agreement with the United States.

A spokesman for the Chinese Embassy in Washington declined to comment on the newspaper report, but noted that China has proposed to the United States that the two nations commit themselves publicly never to use nuclear weapons against each other.

China has 'no-first-use' policy

Washington has not yet responded to the offer, he said, and China has also declared a no-first-use policy on nuclear weapons.

"To retarget a missile takes only a few minutes," Yu Shuning said Friday. "That's why we proposed a no-use pledge by the two countries."

The United States has long maintained its right to first use of nuclear weapons, but has been pressing China to reach a detargeting agreement outside the context of no-first-use pledges.

A State Department official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said China's small number of nuclear weapons serve as a deterrent against attack, not as a threat to the United States. The U.S. nuclear arsenal includes 6,000 intercontinental-range warheads while China has just 18.

Blair, the Brookings Institution weapons expert, said the United States decided in 1982, three years after normalization of relations with China, to remove Chinese targets from the U.S. nuclear weapons on alert.

In recent years, as the Clinton administration has re-examined its nuclear weapons policy, some presidential advisers have argued for returning Chinese targets to some alerted weapons, but to no avail.

"It's such a small force," Blair said. "It's lost in the noise."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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