What it means to be an American

By Charles Smith

I once had the good fortune to interview Chinese dissident Harry Wu.
Harry spent a good portion of his life inside the Laogai prison camps.
The Chinese Laogai camps cannot be compared on an equal basis with
American prisons or the Russian Gulag, since millions of Chinese are
held in the political prisons every day.

Harry’s problem was a tendency to question authority and speak out
freely. For that, he served over a decade in forced labor. In the end,
the Chinese communists exiled him from his own country. He now lives in
California.

Yet, Harry has also struck back. Harry once managed to capture
Chinese People’s Armed Police officials trying to sell the body parts of
executed dissidents. Harry got them on videotape while posing as a rich
man with a kidney disease. The tape was aired on ABC, much to the
embarrassment of Beijing.

During my interview, Harry paused from his harrowing tale, and
spotted a stack of documents I obtained from the U.S. Commerce
Department. These documents cover some of the Chinese deals made by the
Clinton administration. He expressed an interest in viewing some of them
and making a few copies for his benefit. I, of course, obliged. My
career as a writer started with documents obtained by the Freedom of
Information Act. The Chinese espionage story is a military historian’s
dream. I must tip my hat to the officers of the People’s Liberation
Army on a job well done.

I have followed the path of documents, tracing the technology to
China and the money to the Clinton White House. In the course of
discovery, I have also detailed the success of General Huai, General
Shen and their brilliant leader, the now-retired General Ding Henggao.

General Ding’s incredible espionage success inside the Clinton
administration brought a literal flood of advanced military equipment
for the People’s Liberation Army. The sudden upgrade of Chinese
military technology also enriched Ding and his American counterpart, Dr.
John Lewis, a personal consultant to Clinton’s Secretary of Defense
William Perry.

The long list of advanced military equipment obtained by General Ding
and his two subordinates includes secure fiber-optic communications,
super computers for nuclear weapons research, missile nose cone design
software, special missile manufacturing equipment and multiple nuclear
warhead designs.

Most of the top backers for permanent trade status for China are also
under investigation for the same illegal trade with the Chinese Army.
Motorola, Boeing, Loral and Hughes all are pushing hard with a
cash-advertising blitz aimed at the public. Motorola, Boeing, Loral and
Hughes are all under investigation for illegal transfers.

The long list of documents also includes telling quotes from many of
the key players. For example, Loral Defense President Jerald Lindfelt
wrote Ron Brown, complaining that the U.S. military blocked his export
of an advanced Synthetic Aperture Radar System to a research unit of the
Chinese army.

“We’ve worked hard trying to resolve these problems with the
Department of State, the Department of Commerce and the Defense
Technology Security Administration (DTSA), but someone in these
organizations always manages to block our participation,” wrote
Lindfelt.

Motorola’s CEO Gary Tooker also wrote to Ron Brown. Tooker, however,
expressed Motorola’s thanks to Brown and President Clinton for helping
out on a Chinese deal.

“Dear Ron, I am writing to thank you and some key members of the
Commerce Department for your assistance in obtaining the presidential
waiver for encryption export sales to China,” wrote Tooker in 1995,
after landing a $100 million dollar secure radio deal with the Chinese
People’s Armed Police.

Keep in mind the People’s Armed Police are not your ordinary cops on
the beat. The People’s Armed Police have unleashed tanks on unarmed
demonstrators. The People’s Armed Police operate the Laogai prison
camps and execute dissidents for profit.

Of course, the People’s Armed Police also enforce China’s one-child
policy. Women without a license are arrested, beaten, forcibly aborted,
sterilized and often raped by the People’s Armed Police.

Even to this day, no one at Motorola will comment on the $100 million
sale to China. I can state with documented proof that nine out of ten
murdering red Gestapo agents prefer Motorola over the next leading
brand.

I also know that if the Chinese People’s Armed Police needs a few
more Motorola radios, they can always murder another dissident for his
body parts. Don’t worry about the blood on the money; no one at
Motorola will ask any questions.

During the interview, Harry Wu looked over several of the documents,
inspecting the Motorola letters and noting his own personal memory of
the People’s Police using Motorola radios.

“How did you get them?” he asked while looking over the documents.

“Freedom of information,” I replied. “Our government has to
respond. If they don’t respond properly, I can take them to court for
civil fines … even criminal penalties.”

“Novel concept this ‘Freedom of Information,'” he commented with a
slight smile.

“Yes it is,” I said proudly. “I suppose in your country I would be
in a prison camp for asking these kind of questions.”

“No,” he said firmly. “You’d be dead.”

Harry then looked me curiously in the eyes, as if he were trying to
see my next thoughts or watch me flinch. At that moment I faced a
personal choice, pursue the Chinagate story or cover something less
hazardous to my health.

There are many things that can lure a man or deter a man from seeking
the truth. Odd though it may seem, that day I suddenly discovered what
America was all about.

Charles Smith

Charles R. Smith is a noted investigative journalist. For over 20 years, Smith has covered areas of national security and information warfare. He frequently appears on national television for the Fox network and is a popular guest on radio shows all over America. Read more of Charles Smith's articles here.