Tang says the reports of nuclear espionage are baseless

March 7, 1999
Web posted at: 11:13 a.m. EST (1613 GMT)

In this story: Investigation ongoing Harsh words for anti-missile system RELATED STORIES, SITES

BEIJING (CNN) -- Chinese Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan on Sunday denied reports that his government stole U.S. nuclear secrets and issued a strong warning against U.S. and Japanese research for an Asian missile defense system.

The New York Times reported Saturday that a computer scientist at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico was suspected of passing on sensitive information that helped China develop a miniaturization of its nuclear bombs in the 1980s.

"The report that The New York Times printed is very irresponsible. It is also without basis," Tang said in a news conference.

But a senior Clinton administration official told CNN that the administration is convinced that China did obtain nuclear secrets through a breach at the Los Alamos lab.

"There is little question that information ... was passed. It is a separate issue as to how much the Chinese benefited," said the U.S. official, who asked not to be identified.

The U.S. was unaware of the espionage until 1995 and did not identify the suspect, who has not been charged, until 1996, the official said.

Senior officials at the White House were not briefed on the full scope of the problem until July of 1997, said the administration official.

"Currently there is an ongoing investigation to determine if there was criminal conduct and we continue to assess the implications for national security," said White House National Security Council spokesman David Leavy.

The ability to produce smaller warheads would allow China to launch several nuclear weapons from a single missile, a capability the U.S. and Russia already have.

The chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee said Sunday that if the allegations of nuclear espionage are true, the breach will cause major damage to U.S. security.

Sen. Richard Shelby (R-Alabama) said he has been pushing the Clinton administration to tighten security.

Federal agents have reportedly questioned an employee at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in connection with a possible security breach

"I think they're beginning to ... but they waited a long time. They could have done more immediately," Shelby said on NBC's "Meet the Press."

After dismissing the charges that China stole nuclear secrets during his news conference, Tang condemned U.S. policy toward China regarding human rights and the sharing of technology.

But he saved his harshest criticism for the possible U.S.-Japanese anti-missile umbrella.

While the United States has yet to decide whether to deploy such a system, Tang indicated that China regards even research into the regional anti-missile defense as a dangerous move.

Development of the system will not help international disarmament efforts and will "exert a negative impact on the global and regional strategic balance and stability into the next century. So China is very much concerned about it," Tang said.

Without naming Japan, Tang noted that the United States was studying the system with "one of its allies."

This research "will greatly enhance the overall offensive and defensive level of this military alliance, which will go far beyond the legitimate defense needs which the relevant country has repeatedly indicated," Tang said.

Chinese officials are particularly upset by reports that Taiwan, which Beijing considers a renegade province, may also be protected by the missile defense system.

"That would amount to an encroachment of China's sovereignty and territorial integrity," Tang said.

Beijing Bureau Chief Rebecca MacKinnon, The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.

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