Arrows for the dragon

Bernard Schwartz has donated over one million dollars to the DNC
since 1993. In exchange for the massive donations, it is known that in
1994 Bernard Schwartz, chairman of Loral Aerospace, went to China with
Commerce Secretary Ron Brown.

Schwartz’s company builds a wide variety
of high-tech items including Direct Broadcast TV satellites as well as
some of the most lethal high-tech weapons in the US military arsenal.
Yet, what was not known until recently, is that Schwartz traveled to
China with the personal approval of Bill Clinton on a “Presidential
Business Development Mission.”

Mr. Schwartz had his Loral staff prepare a shopping list for the
secretary of Commerce prior to traveling with Brown to China. The Loral
sales guide was discovered in Ron Brown’s previously unreleased files at
the Commerce Department and was part of a folder from Secretary Brown’s
personal files, labeled simply “President Business Development Mission
CHINA.” This sales list, complete with very big pictures, would make
Loral’s product line easier to understand and digest at Ron Brown’s
(e.g, executive) level.

On that day Ron Brown stopped being secretary of Commerce and began a
new career as an international arms dealer. The items Loral carried to a
pre-China trade meeting with Ron Brown more closely resemble a Jane’s
Defense catalog of high tech weapons than a Commerce Department meeting.

Some of the items Loral suggested for sale include “Airborne
Reconnaissance Cameras, Weapon Delivery, Target Acquisition, Missile
Guidance, Shipboard Target Acquisition, Radar Warning, Missile Warning,
RF Jamming, IR Jamming. …” Loral’s list for proposed sale to Red China
also included some of the most deadly missiles in the U.S. inventory.
The AIM-9 Sidewinder, the massive missile artillery weapon MLRS, the
Army’s newest U.S. anti-missile ERINT, the anti-aircraft missile
Chaparral, and even an advanced, unmanned air vehicle called Predator.

Loral also made sure to list ever popular add-ons for jet fighters like
laser bomb targeting pods, FLIR (Forward Looking Infra-Red) night vision
and smart bomb targeting gear. In addition, Loral offered the Tomahawk
cruise missile digital scene (target) mapping system along with its
latest radar jamming and detection electronics.

But military hardware was not the only thing inside Loral’s package.
Of greater importance to Schwartz was to convince Brown to allow Loral
to orbit satellites on China’s low-cost Long March rocket. In 1994 the
U.S. prohibited the export of certain items to China, including
satellites. This act was done for a variety of human rights and
missile/nuclear proliferation violations by China. Thus, Schwartz found
his commercial satellite business restricted to more expensive US space
rockets such as the McDonnell Douglas Delta.
Loral’s request to use the
Chinese Long March had previously been denied due to the U.S. embargo on
high-tech trade to China. To remedy the situation, Schwartz boldly
included a special request for the Clinton administration inside the
same thick book of high-tech weapons being considered for export. Loral
sought “U.S. Government actions to aid (the) satellite industry,” which
included such measures as “Remove technology transfer restrictions where
unnecessary” and “Permit occasional Russian or Chinese launch.”

Ron Brown also had a pre-China briefing document prepared for Bernard
Schwartz. The Commerce document was discovered with the Loral weapons
buyers guide and is titled “Background Information.” However, instead of
providing hotel and eating tips for Beijing, the Commerce Department
updated Schwartz on the latest business news from China that any
military/industrialist would need to cut his next weapons deal. It
states “EXPORT CONTROLS. Last August (1993), the U.S. imposed sanctions
on China for an M-11 missile-related transfer to Pakistan. On Jan. 7,
1994, it was decided that although communications satellites licensed by
the State Department are covered by the sanctions law, export licenses
for communications satellites licensed by the Department of Commerce may
be approved. Two such export licenses for communications satellites were
recently approved by the Department of Commerce.”

Curiously, Bill Reinsch, the current head of the Commerce
Department’s Bureau of Export Administration, recently denied in
testimony before Congress that the Commerce Department was responsible
for authorizing the Loral satellites exports to China. In fact, Reinsch
asserted in an interview that the “State Department” was responsible for
issuing the exports.

However, here in a briefing packet for Bernard Schwartz, the Commerce
Department openly bragged they had “approved” satellites for China, a
documented contradiction of Reinsch’s denial. This brings up the serious
question of whether Mr. Reinsch is telling the truth.

Ron Brown not only kept Loral’s Schwartz up with the latest in
Chinese missile marketing but he also gave him a big hint on how to get
his satellites approved for launch on Chinese Long March rockets.
Schwartz could simply dodge U.S. export sanctions by avoiding the State
Department in favor of a much more friendly Commerce Department run by
Ron Brown.

In addition, according to Commerce Department documentation, Schwartz
sought to meet with his most important Chinese customer directly upon
his arrival in Beijing. The first Chinese official Schwartz met was Shen
Rong-Jun, vice minister for COSTIND (Commission of Science, Technology,
& Industry for National Defense). Please note the “National Defense”
part of COSTIND makes it part of the People’s Liberation Army. COSTIND
is best known for making China’s jet fighters, bombers and
nuclear-tipped missiles.

Still, the most compelling evidence of who authorized U.S. military
exports to China comes not from the hidden files of Ron Brown but from
recently published GAO testimony on U.S. weapons exports to China. The
GAO published the testimony on May 7, 1998, which states, “According to
State (Department) officials, since 1990, 11 presidential waivers have
been issued removing export restrictions on 21 satellite projects.
Presidential waivers were also granted to permit the export of
encryption equipment controlled on the Munitions List.” In fact,
according to the GAO testimony, the U.S. sales were
“government-to-government agreements” managed under the “Foreign
Military Sales Program.”

These arms sales totaled to over $300 million dollars.

Direct military sales are one thing; however, the GAO did not cover
“civilian dual-use” technology. One example of such “civilian”
technology sold to Red China by Loral is a highly accurate, satellite
navigation system. The Loral navigation aids were originally sold to
China under the condition they would be used on “civilian” airliners.

China, according to Aviation Week & Space Technology, is now using Loral
satellites to perform all weather bombing with a “western” based
navigation system installed on modified Russian SU-27 FLANKER jet
fighters. The next bombs dropped in anger from a People’s Air Force
warplane will fall with great accuracy thanks to U.S. technology.

Another U.S., high-tech upgrade for the benefit of the Chinese Army
is their new secure military communication system. China, according to
the GAO, is now using U.S.-built secure encoding systems to protect
their military satellite and global communications. The new system is a
decades leap forward for the Chinese, who previously depended on aging
Soviet built analog scramblers to protect their highest military orders.
The U.S. technology sold to Red China includes a secure,
state-of-the-art, military C4 (Command Control Communications Computers)
system. This is not some “dual-use” item like the Loral
bombing/navigation equipment. It is designed for generals to issue
orders in battle.

Finally, the GAO report is very clear on who is responsible for these
sales. Bill Clinton determined it was in our national interest to arm
Red China. It was President Bill Clinton who authorized the sale of U.S.
technology for military purposes to a country that only 24 months ago
threatened to blow up Los Angeles.
The legacy that Bill Clinton will
leave the next century is a modern Chinese armed force, ready and able
to successfully carry out any war command from the communist leaders in
Beijing.