{ "id": "RL30143", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORTS", "number": "RL30143", "active": false, "source": "EveryCRSReport.com, University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department", "versions": [ { "source": "EveryCRSReport.com", "id": 312129, "date": "2006-02-01", "retrieved": "2016-04-07T19:15:59.274029", "title": "China: Suspected Acquisition of U.S. Nuclear Weapon Secrets", "summary": "This CRS Report discusses China\u2019s suspected acquisition of U.S. nuclear weapon\nsecrets, including\nthat on the W88, the newest U.S. nuclear warhead. This serious controversy became public in early\n1999 and raised policy issues about whether U.S. security was further threatened by China\u2019s\nsuspected use of U.S. nuclear weapon secrets in its development of nuclear forces, as well as whether\nthe Administration\u2019s response to the security problems was effective or mishandled and\nwhether it\nfairly used or abused its investigative and prosecuting authority. The Clinton Administration\nacknowledged that improved security was needed at the weapons labs but said that it took actions\nin response to indications in 1995 that China may have obtained U.S. nuclear weapon secrets. \nCritics in Congress and elsewhere argued that the Administration was slow to respond to security\nconcerns, mishandled the too narrow investigation, downplayed information potentially unfavorable\nto China and the labs, and failed to notify Congress fully.\n \n On April 7, 1999, President Clinton gave his assurance that partly \u201cbecause of our\nengagement,\nChina has, at best, only marginally increased its deployed nuclear threat in the last 15 years\u201d\nand that\nthe strategic balance with China \u201cremains overwhelmingly in our favor.\u201d On April\n21, 1999,\nDirector of Central Intelligence (DCI) George Tenet, reported the Intelligence Community\u2019s\ndamage\nassessment. It confirmed that \u201cChina obtained by espionage classified U.S. nuclear weapons\ninformation that probably accelerated its program to develop future nuclear weapons.\u201d It also\nrevealed that China obtained information on \u201cseveral\u201d U.S. nuclear reentry vehicles,\nincluding the\nTrident II submarine-launched missile that delivers the W88 nuclear warhead as well as \u201ca\nvariety\nof\u201d design concepts and weaponization features, including those of the neutron bomb.\n \n On May 25, 1999, the House\u2019s Cox Committee reported that China stole classified\ninformation\non the W88 and six other U.S. nuclear warheads. On June 15, 1999, the President\u2019s Foreign\nIntelligence Advisory Board (PFIAB) called the Department of Energy a \u201cdysfunctional\nbureaucracy\u201d and urged the creation of a semi-autonomous or independent agency to oversee\nnuclear\nweapons. In September 1999, Congress passed the FY2000 National Defense Authorization Act to\ncreate a National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) within DOE on March 1, 2000. \n \n As one result of the W-88 case, the FBI investigated a Taiwan-born U.S. scientist at the Los\nAlamos lab, Wen Ho Lee. He was never charged with espionage. In December 1999, the Justice\nDepartment indicted Lee on 59 felony counts for mishandling nuclear weapons information (not\nclassified at the time). Lee was jailed without bail until a plea agreement on September 13, 2000,\nwhen he pleaded guilty to one count of mishandling national defense information (for making copies\nof his computer files). The judge apologized to Lee. Meanwhile, in April 1999, the FBI expanded\nits counterintelligence investigation beyond the focus on Los Alamos, and in 2000, the probe shifted\nto missile secrets and to the Defense Department. In April 2003, an ex-FBI agent, James Smith, and\nhis informant, Katrina Leung, were arrested for allegedly mishandling national defense information\nrelated to China.", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORTS", "active": false, "formats": [ { "format": "HTML", "encoding": "utf-8", "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/RL30143", "sha1": "214e19584971cb76b81ff0c4244d8e453c1c08fe", "filename": "files/20060201_RL30143_214e19584971cb76b81ff0c4244d8e453c1c08fe.html", "images": null }, { "format": "PDF", "encoding": null, "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/pdf/RL30143", "sha1": "2a1b9c34bdf95c7a9d021d8b48763479854242b9", "filename": "files/20060201_RL30143_2a1b9c34bdf95c7a9d021d8b48763479854242b9.pdf", "images": null } ], "topics": [] }, { "source": "University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department", "sourceLink": "https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metacrs1138/", "id": "RL30143 2000-12-20", "date": "2000-12-20", "retrieved": "2005-06-11T04:03:00", "title": "China: Suspected Acquisition of U.S. Nuclear Weapon Secrets", "summary": "This CRS Report discusses China\u2019s suspected acquisition of U.S. nuclear weapon secrets, including that on the W88, the newest U.S. nuclear warhead, since the late 1970s. This current controversy, began in early 1999, raises policy issues about whether U.S. security is further threatened by the PRC\u2019s suspected use of U.S. nuclear weapon secrets in its development of nuclear forces, as well as whether the Administration\u2019s response to the security problems is effective or mishandled and whether it fairly used or abused its investigative and prosecuting authority.", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORT", "active": false, "formats": [ { "format": "PDF", "filename": "files/20001220_RL30143_5b2a2f3478425b0f21402a260336b9a1b7e24c42.pdf" }, { "format": "HTML", "filename": "files/20001220_RL30143_5b2a2f3478425b0f21402a260336b9a1b7e24c42.html" } ], "topics": [ { "source": "LIV", "id": "Defense policy", "name": "Defense policy" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "Nuclear weapons information", "name": "Nuclear weapons information" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "Classified defense information", "name": "Classified defense information" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "Intelligence activities", "name": "Intelligence activities" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "Government information", "name": "Government information" } ] } ], "topics": [ "Foreign Affairs", "Intelligence and National Security", "National Defense" ] }