While newly released documents show that the U.S. Defense Department
has resumed military-to-military exchanges with the Chinese army,
congressional sources are concerned that the new Pentagon program with
Beijing is far more than a simple exchange.
“They are providing China with all the information they need to fight
a war with Taiwan and win,” said Al Santoli, national security adviser
to Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, R-Calif., who reviewed the documents.
“The White House is using these exchanges as an excuse to shut down
our intelligence operations,” stated another national security source.
“The administration has virtually turned off all U.S. military
intelligence in China and is now totally reliant on the PRC
military-to-military contacts for any information. Our military
attaches in Beijing are openly complaining that they have been shut
out.”
As
reported by the Washington Times, the new U.S.-Chinese military exchanges included an August training session at the U.S. Army Joint Warfare center located at Ft. Monroe, Virginia, commanded by Maj. Gen. William S. Wallace.
“United States Joint Forces Command Joint Warfighting Center welcomes members of the Chinese Academy of Military Science,” states the
unclassified military training document. (View 4 out of 16 briefing
slides.)
Obtained from the U.S. Joint Forces Command center, the documents state that Chinese military officers were given information “based upon a Warfighting scenario” that “focused on C3 & Systems Interoperability.” According to the documents, the Pentagon-sponsored exchange program included detailed information “designed to provide high quality rigorous training to three-star Joint and Combined Task Force Commanders and their staffs.”
The Chinese army officers were also briefed on U.S. military “Joint Exercise Focus” plans, including “threat order of battle & weapons relevant to theater” using “actual terrain” stored in “digitized data.”
The new concerns inside Capitol Hill over Chinese military exchanges could not come at a worse time for the Clinton-Gore administration. The Senate is scheduled to begin final debate over permanent trade status for China and the military exchange issue will be raised.
The Senate is also expected to debate an amendment to the China trade legislation co-sponsored by Sen. Fred Thompson, R-Tenn. and Sen Robert Torricelli, D-N.J. Thompson’s amendment provides for sanctions against China for proliferation of nuclear and missile-weapons technology.
Despite the coming Senate debate, the Chinese army staged a massive military exercise in July and August. The People’s Liberation Army “joint-force” large-scale military exercise was conducted outside and perhaps inside Japanese waters. The latest Chinese military exercise raised concerns in Washington and brought a swift diplomatic protest from Japan.
On Monday, Tokyo issued a formal protest with Beijing because Chinese naval vessels entered Japanese territorial waters. Tokyo has previously complained to Beijing over Chinese warships breaching Japanese territory. The latest incident, according to Japanese military sources, involved a Chinese “spy” ship equipped with sophisticated electronic monitoring devices. Chinese electronic warfare ships are operated under the direct command of the People’s Liberation Army Headquarters 4th Department located just outside Beijing.
The Chinese exercise reportedly raised serious concerns inside Japanese military circles because it demonstrated the growing high-tech capability of the Chinese army using stolen Western technology, U.S. tactics and new weapons purchased from Russia. Military analysts confirm that the exercise demonstrated the Chinese navy intends to blockade Japan during an invasion of Taiwan. U.S. officials expect that one response under consideration is that Tokyo will begin a nuclear weapons program.
The Clinton -Gore administration previously has been accused of abusing the military-to-military contacts with China. In May 1999, the White House allowed the Chinese army air force to tour Edwards Air Force Base in California.
The Pentagon and White House maintained that the
visiting Chinese were civilians and part of an air-traffic control
program. However, according to documents obtained through the Freedom of Information Act, Chinese air force officers attended classes given by the U.S. Air Force on “combat readiness” — including a simulated F-16 training mission with “bombing and strafing.”
Many of the training sessions also included Chinese army air force officers traveling under civilian names, listing themselves on official documents as “Mr.” At one point, an anonymous Federal Aviation Administration official marked “Deputy Chief of General Staff, PLA” next to a “Mr. Kui Fulin,” and “Lt. General, PLAF” next to “Mr. Li Yongtai” on the “China Air Traffic Control Survey Delegation” list.
The 1999 training operations with the Chinese air force brought a
stiff reaction from Capitol Hill. A November 1999 letter from Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, R-Calif., and Rep. Dan Burton, R-Ind., to Defense Secretary William Cohen expressed the growing concern that the U.S. was training the Chinese army.
“After reviewing the briefing papers distributed to the Chinese delegation,” noted the joint letter, “we are concerned that under the guise of ‘air traffic control,’ the U.S. military gave instructions on how our military fighter commands utilize civilian air traffic control for tasks such as ‘low level bombing, in-flight refueling’ and the coordination of AWACS in combat refueling operations.”
“It appears that these briefings not only advised the Chinese military on how we conduct fighter-bomber operations in military operations areas, but this will enable them to better develop defenses against our Air Force and Navy aviation operations,” noted the congressmen’s letter to Cohen.
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