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CHAPTER 10 SUMMARY
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10 NOTES
Chapter 10
Contents
Export Controls on Machine Tools
Export Administration Regulations
The PRC's Machine Tool Capabilities
and Foreign Acquisitions
Findings of the U.S. General Accounting
Office
The U.S. Government's Actions
in Approving the Export Licenses
Intelligence Community Assessments
Changes to the Trunkliner Program
Discussions in the Advisory Committee
for Export Policy
The License is Issued
McDonnell Douglas's Plans
McDonnell Douglas's Limited Role
at the Machining Center
Trunkliner Program
Commerce Department Delays Investigating
Machine Tool Diversion for Six Months
The Commerce Department's Actions
in April 1995
The Commerce Department's Actions
in October 1995
Allegation that the Commerce Department
Discouraged the Los Angeles Field Office's Investigation
The Office of Export Enforcement's
Los Angeles Field Office's Request for a Temporary Denial Order
Against CATIC
PRC Diversion of Machine Tools
CATIC Letter Suggests Trunkliner
Program at Risk
CATIC's Efforts to Create the
Beijing Machining Centerwith Monitor Aerospace
Diversion of the Machine Tools
to Nanchang Aircraft Company
Nanchang Accepts Responsibility
PRC Targeting of Garrett Engines
U.S. Government Approval of
the Initial Garrett Engine Exports
Commerce Department Decontrol
of the Garrett Jet Engines
The Interagency Review of the
Proposed Export
of Garrett Jet Engines
Consideration of Enhanced
Proliferation Control Initiative Regulations
Consideration of COCOM
and Export Administration Regulations
Resolution of the Garrett Engine
Controversy
Chapter 10
Summary

achine tool and jet engine technologies are priority acquisition
targets for the PRC. This chapter presents two case studies
relating to the PRC's priority efforts to obtain such technology
- its 1994 purchase of machine tools from McDonnell Douglas,
and its efforts in the late 1980s and early 1990s to obtain jet
engine technology from Allied Signal's Garrett Engine Division.
McDonnell Douglas Machine
Tools
In 1993, China National Aero-Technology Import and Export
Corporation (CATIC) agreed to purchase a number of excess machine
tools and other equipment from McDonnell Douglas, including 19
machine tools that required individual validated licenses to
be exported. CATIC told McDonnell Douglas it was purchasing
the machine tools to produce parts for the Trunkliner Program,
a 1992 agreement between McDonnell Douglas and CATIC to build
40 MD-82 and MD-90 series commercial aircraft in the PRC.
During the interagency licensing process for the machine
tools, the Defense Technology Security Administration sought
assessments from the Central Intelligence Agency and from the
Defense Intelligence Agency, because of concerns that the PRC
could use the McDonnell Douglas five-axis machine tools for unauthorized
purposes, particularly to develop quieter submarines. Since
the PRC wishes to enhance its power projection capabilities and
is making efforts to strengthen its naval forces, the five-axis
machine tools could easily be diverted for projects that would
achieve that goal.
Initially, CATIC told McDonnell Douglas it planned to sell
the machine tools to four factories in the PRC that were involved
in the Trunkliner commercial aircraft program. When those
efforts reportedly failed, CATIC told McDonnell Douglas it planned
to use the machine tools at a machining center to be built in
Beijing to produce Trunkliner parts for the four factories.
In May 1994, McDonnell Douglas applied to the Commerce
Department for licenses to export the 19 machine tools to the
PRC. Even after it became apparent that only 20 of the 40
Trunkliner aircraft would be built in the PRC, the U.S. Government
continued to accept McDonnell Douglas's assertion that the machine
tools were still required to support the Trunkliner production
requirements. Accordingly, Commerce approved the license applications
in September 1994 with a number of conditions designed to limit
the risk of diversion or misuse.
In April 1995, the U.S. Government learned from McDonnell
Douglas that six of the licensed machine tools had been diverted
to a factory in Nanchang known to manufacture military aircraft
and cruise missile components, as well as commercial products.
However, Commerce's Office of Export Enforcement (OEE) did not
initiate an investigation of the diversion for six months.
The Commerce Department declined an Office of Export Enforcement
Los Angeles Field Office request for a Temporary Denial Order
against CATIC. The case remains under investigation by OEE and
the U.S. Customs Service. With the approval of the U.S. Government,
the machine tools have since been consolidated at a factory in
Shanghai.
Garrett Engines
The PRC has obtained U.S. jet engine technology through
diversions of engines from commercial end uses, by direct purchase,
and through joint ventures. Although the United States has
generally sought to restrict the most militarily sensitive jet
engine technologies and equipment, the PRC has reportedly acquired
such technologies and equipment through surreptitious means.
Prior to 1991, Garrett jet engines had been exported to
the PRC under individual validated licenses that included
certain conditions to protect U.S. national security. These conditions
were intended to impede any attempt by the PRC to advance its
capability to develop jet engines for military aircraft and cruise
missiles.
The 1991 decision by the Commerce Department to decontrol
Garrett jet engines ensured that they could be exported to the
PRC without an individual validated license or U.S. Government
review. In 1992, the Defense Department learned of negotiations
between Allied Signal's Garrett Engine Division and PRC officials
for a co-production deal that prompted an interagency review
of Commerce's earlier decision. The interagency review raised
a number of questions regarding the methodology Commerce had
followed in its decision to decontrol the Garrett jet engines.
The PRC continues its efforts to acquire U.S. jet engine
production technology. The PRC may have also benefited from
the direct exploitation of specially designed U.S. cruise missile
engines. According to published reports, the PRC examined a U.S.
Tomahawk cruise missile that had been fired at a target in Afghanistan
in 1998, but crashed en route in Pakistan.
Chapter 10
Text
MANUFACTURING
PROCESSES
PRC EFFORTS TO ACQUIRE
MACHINE TOOL AND
JET ENGINE
TECHNOLOGIES

he People's Republic of China's long-term goal is to become
a leading power in East Asia and, eventually, one of the world's
great powers. To achieve these aims, the PRC will probably enhance
its military capabilities to ensure that it will prevail in regional
wars and deter any global strategic threat to its security.1
From the PRC's perspective, the 1991 Gulf War was a watershed
event in which U.S. weapons and tactics proved decisive. The
war provided a window on future warfare as well as a benchmark
for the PRC's armed forces.2
After the Gulf War, senior PRC military leaders began speaking
of the need to fight future, limited wars "under high-tech
conditions." 3 Senior PRC political leaders support the
military's new agenda.4
In a 1996 speech, Li Peng, second-ranking member of the Politburo,
then-Prime Minister, and currently Chairman of the National People's
Congress, said:
We should attach great importance to strengthening the
army through technology, enhance research in defense-related
science, . . . give priority to developing arms needed for defense
under high-tech conditions, and lay stress on developing new
types of weapons.5
Senior PRC leaders recognize that enormous efforts must be
made to "catch up" militarily with the West.6 According
to the Defense Intelligence Agency, the PRC's ability to achieve
this goal depends in part on its "industrial capacity to
produce advanced weapons without foreign technical assistance."
7
Two technologies
that have been identified as priority acquisition targets for
the PRC are machine tools for civil and military requirements,
and jet engine technology.8 This chapter presents two case
studies relating to the PRC's efforts to obtain such technologies
- its 1994 purchase of machine tools from McDonnell Douglas,
and its efforts in the late 1980s and early 1990s to obtain jet
engine technology from Allied Signal's Garrett Engine Division.
These case studies illustrate the methods the PRC has used
to acquire militarily-sensitive technologies through its skillful
interaction with U.S. Government and commercial entities.
However, the case studies do not assess the degree to which
the PRC has enhanced its aerospace and military industrial capabilities
through the acquisition of U.S. technologies and equipment.
A third technology priority for the PRC - composite materials
- is discussed in the Technical Afterword to this chapter.
PRC Targeting of Advanced Machine
Tools

The PRC is committed to the acquisition of Western machine
tool technology, and the advanced computer controls that provide
the foundation for an advanced aerospace industry.
Although the PRC acquires machine tools from foreign sources
in connection with commercial ventures, it also seeks foreign-made
machine tools on a case-by-case basis to support its military
armament programs.
Moreover, the proliferation of joint ventures and other commercial
endeavors that involve the transfer or sale of machine tools
to the PRC makes it more difficult for foreign governments and
private industry to distinguish between civilian and military
end-uses of the equipment.
The China National
Aero-Technology Import-Export Corporation's (CATIC) purchase
of used machine tools from McDonnell Douglas, now part of
Boeing, is one illustration of the complexities and uncertainties
faced by private industry and the U.S. Government in these endeavors.
Traditional machine tools cut, bend, and shape metals and
non-metal materials to manufacture the components and structures
of other machines. Machine tools form the foundation of modern
industrial economies, and are widely used in the aerospace and
defense industries.
The capability of machine tools is typically indicated by
the number of linear or rotational motions - of either the tool
or the workpiece - that can be continuously controlled during
the machining process, and by the machining accuracy that can
be achieved. The latter is measured in microns, that is, millionths
of a meter.
Advanced machine tools can provide five axes of motion - typically
horizontal, lateral, and vertical movement, and rotation on two
perpendicular axes. Less widely used or required are six- and
seven-axis machines, which are sometimes used for special applications.
Machine tools used in aircraft and defense manufacturing today
are generally numerically controlled (NC). More advanced equipment
is computer numerically controlled (CNC). CNC machine tools are
essential to batch production of components for modern weapon
systems, and can reduce machining times for complex parts by
up to 90 percent compared to conventional machine tools.
In addition, these modern machines require operators with
less skill and experience and, when combined with computer-aided
design software, can reduce the manufacturing cycle of a product,
from concept to production, from months to days.
Machine tools are
essential to commercial industry, and high precision, multiple-axis
machine tools broaden the range of design solutions for weapon
components and structural assemblies. Parts and structures
can be designed with advantages in weight and cost relative to
what could be achieved with less advanced machine tools. For
military and aerospace applications, the level of manufacturing
technology possessed by a country directly affects the level
of military hardware that can be produced, and the cost and reliability
of the hardware.9
The military/civilian dual-use production capability of various
types of machine tools is indicated in the following table.
Export
Controls on Machine Tools
The PRC's access to foreign multi-axis machine tools and controllers
has increased rapidly with liberalized international export controls.10
During the Cold War, the Coordinating Committee for Multilateral
Export Controls (COCOM) established multilateral controls on
exports to the Warsaw Pact allies and the PRC of machine tools
that restricted linear positioning accuracy below 10 microns.11
However, the consensus for relatively strict export controls
dissolved after the Soviet Union's collapse.
The post-Cold War control regime is embodied in the 1996 Wassenaar
Arrangement, and the 1978 Nuclear Suppliers Group Agreement (NSG)
governing the export of machine tools that can be used for nuclear
weapons development. This current regime has a different focus,
as indicated in the following table.
The Wassenaar and Nuclear Suppliers Group Agreement regimes
have adopted similar control parameters for machine tools. Generally
speaking, lathes and milling machines must be licensed for export
if their accuracy exceeds six microns. Grinding machines are
controlled at four microns. The Wassenaar Arrangement controls
all machine tools capable of simultaneous, five-axis motion,
regardless of machining accuracy. The Nuclear Suppliers Group
Agreement exempts certain machines from this restriction.12
The PRC is not a proscribed destination for machine tools
and other commodities under the Wassenaar Arrangement. This means
that Wassenaar regime members treat exports to the PRC according
to their individual national discretion. On the other hand, exports
to the PRC of Nuclear Suppliers Group Agreement-covered items
require individual validated licenses.13
Export
Administration Regulations
The Wassenaar and Nuclear Suppliers Group Agreement parameters
for machine tool controls have been incorporated in the U.S.
Commerce Department's Commodity Control List of dual-use items
(the list appears in the Export Administration Regulations).14
Machine tools are listed under Category 2 (Material Processing),
Group B (Inspection and Production Equipment).15
The Commodity Control List further classifies machine tools
- as it does other dual-use items - by an Export Control Classification
Number that reflects the item's category, group, types of associated
controls, whether the item is controlled for unilateral or multilateral
concerns, and a sequencing number to differentiate among items
on the Commodity Control List.16
The
PRC's Machine Tool Capabilities and Foreign Acquisitions
Observers of the PRC's machine tool capabilities do not believe
that the PRC can indigenously produce high precision, five-axis
machines that approach the quality of Western products.
The U.S. General Accounting Office estimates that the PRC
has the capability "to manufacture less sophisticated machine
tools, but cannot currently mass produce four- and five-axis
machine tools that meet Western standards." 17
According to a 1996 Defense Department assessment, however,
the PRC's indigenous machine tool production capability is increasing
markedly.18
The PRC has long sought to compensate for its deficiencies
in machine tool technology by importing foreign systems. This
approach has been facilitated by COCOM's dissolution and the
resulting international relaxation of controls on machine tool
exports.
Since the end of
COCOM in March 1994, PRC military industries have acquired advanced
machine tools that would be useful for the production of rocket
and missile guidance components, and several five-axis machines
for fighter aircraft and parts production. Five-axis machines
were controlled under COCOM and are purportedly controlled by
Wassenaar.19 U.S. industry sources note that:
China has proved able to buy [machine tools] from a variety
of foreign makers in Japan and Europe. Between 1993 and 1996,
fifteen large, 5-axis machine tools were purchased by Chinese
end users - all fifteen were made by Western European manufacturers.
Furthermore, Shenyang Aircraft purchased twelve 5-axis
machine tools [in 1997]. These machine tools came from Italian,
German and French factories.20
In addition, the PRC may be enhancing its ability to produce
advanced machine tools through license production arrangements
with Western manufacturers.
Other countries
developing nuclear weapons and missiles have also apparently
benefited from the PRC's ability to acquire advanced machine
tools on the world market. As one recent Defense Department assessment
noted, the PRC's "recent aerospace industry buildup and
its history of weapons trade with nations under Western embargoes
makes this increase in key defense capacity of great concern."
21
The Clinton administration has determined that specific examples
of this activity cannot be publicly disclosed without affecting
national security.
CASE STUDY: McDonnell Douglas
Machine Tools

Findings
of the U.S. General Accounting Office
The Select Committee has determined that the U.S. Government
is generally unaware of the extent to which the PRC has acquired
machine tools for commercial applications and then diverted them
to military end uses.
he McDonnell Douglas case illustrates that the PRC will attempt
diversions when it suits its interests.
At the request of Congress, the U.S. General Accounting Office
in March 1996 initiated a review of the facts and circumstances
pertaining to the 1994 sale of McDonnell Douglas machine tools
to CATIC. The GAO issued its report on November 19, 1996.
The report can be summarized as follows:
· In 1992,
McDonnell Douglas and China National Aero-Technology Import and
Export Corporation (CATIC) agreed to co-produce 20 MD-82 and
20 MD-90 commercial aircraft in the PRC. Known as the Trunkliner
Program, the aircraft were to serve the PRC's domestic "trunk"
routes. In late 1994, a contract revision reduced the number
of aircraft to be built in the PRC to 20, and added the purchase
of 20 U.S.-built aircraft.
· CATIC is
the principal purchasing arm of the PRC's military as well
as many commercial aviation entities. Four PRC factories, under
the direction of Aviation Industries Corporation of China (AVIC)
and CATIC, were to be involved in the Trunkliner Program.
· In late
1993, CATIC agreed to purchase machine tools and other equipment
from a McDonnell Douglas plant in Columbus, Ohio that was
closing. The plant had produced parts for the C-17 transport,
the B-1 bomber, and the Peacekeeper missile. CATIC also purchased
four additional machine tools from McDonnell Douglas that were
located at Monitor Aerospace Corporation in Amityville, New York,
a McDonnell Douglas subcontractor.
· The machine
tools were purchased by CATIC for use at the CATIC Machining
Center in Beijing - a PRC-owned facility that had yet to be built
- and were to be wholly dedicated to the production of Trunkliner
aircraft and related work. McDonnell Douglas informed the U.S.
Government that CATIC would begin construction of the machining
center in October 1994, with production to commence in December
1995.
· In May
1994, McDonnell Douglas submitted license applications for exporting
the machine tools to the PRC and asked that the Commerce Department
approve the applications quickly so that it could export
the machine tools to the PRC, where they could be stored at CATIC's
expense until the machining facility was completed. Following
a lengthy interagency review, the Commerce Department approved
the license applications on September 14, 1994, with numerous
conditions designed to mitigate the risk of diversion.
· During
the review period, concerns were raised about the possible diversion
of the equipment to support PRC military production, the
reliability of the end user, and the capabilities of the equipment
being exported. The Departments of Commerce, State, Energy, and
Defense, and the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency, agreed
on the final decision to approve these applications.
· Six of
the machine tools were subsequently diverted to Nanchang Aircraft
Company, a PRC facility engaged in military and civilian production
over 800 miles south of Beijing. This diversion was contrary
to key conditions in the licenses, which required the equipment
to be used for the Trunkliner program and to be stored in one
location until the CATIC Machining Center was built.
· Six weeks
after the reported diversion, the Commerce Department suspended
licenses for the four machine tools at Monitor Aerospace in New
York that had not yet been shipped to the PRC. Commerce subsequently
denied McDonnell Douglas's request to allow the diverted machine
tools to remain in the unauthorized location for use in civilian
production. The Commerce Department approved the transfer of
the machine tools to Shanghai Aviation Industrial Corporation,
a facility responsible for final assembly of Trunkliner aircraft.
The diverted equipment was relocated to that facility before
it could be misused.
· The Commerce
Department did not formally investigate the export control violations
until six months after they were first reported. The U.S.
Customs Service and the Commerce Department's Office of Export
Enforcement are now conducting a criminal investigation under
the direction of the Department of Justice.22
The
U.S. Government's Actions
in Approving the Export Licenses
On December 23, 1993, the China National Aero-Technology Import
and Export Corporation (CATIC) reached an agreement to purchase
machine tools from McDonnell Douglas. CATIC officials signed
the purchase agreement with McDonnell Douglas on February 15,
1994.
A May 27, 1994 e-mail message to Assistant Secretary of Commerce
for Export Administration Sue Eckert from Deputy Assistant Secretary
for Export Administration Iain Baird noted:
We received 23 applications covering all of the material
involved in this project two days ago. [McDonnell Douglas] plans
on shipping to CATIC.
We have a long history with CATIC, which has been the consignee
on numerous occasions - approved and denied based on licensing
policies in effect at the time. CATIC was also the entity that
attempted to buy the Machine Tool plant in the Northwest that
was "denied" under the CFIUS process.
. . . .
Because of the sensitivity of this case, I think we should
get it
to the ACEP [Advisory Committee for Export Policy] ASAP. We are
going to suggest to the other agencies that we forgo the 60-90
[day] review process and, instead, bring together all the relevant
experts in a special [Operating Committee] meeting in 2-3 weeks
to make a recommendation.
If it is not agreed to approve the transaction at that
point (and it won't be),
we'll get the issue before the next ACEP.
Stay tuned. 23
Subsequently, according to a June 8, 1994 memorandum to Deputy
Assistant Secretary of Defense for Counterproliferation Policy
Dr. Mitchel Wallerstein from Acting Director of the Defense Technology
Security Administration Peter Sullivan:
An interagency meeting was held 7 June 1994. Defense, State
and Commerce were in attendance; Energy and CIA were invited
but did not attend.
McDonnell Douglas representatives outlined their proposal.
They would like closure on their license applications by 5 July
1994.
The possibility of meeting that request seems remote. First,
initial staffing within DoD was accomplished 7 June 1994, when
we received the required documentation from Commerce. Second,
all parties agree that the prospects for escalation within the
[U.S. Government] seem high, due to the scope of the proposed
program, and the precedence [sic] it may establish. We will keep
you informed of additional developments.24
Within the Defense
Department, the McDonnell Douglas license applications were a
cause of concern and internal debate. Specifically, the uniformed
military services (Joint Staff) initially recommended denial.
The Joint Staff based its recommendation of denial upon an
analysis indicating a high probability that this technology would
be diverted for PLA end use.25 Moreover, the Joint Staff noted
that, "Even with DoD recommending approval with conditions,
this would be a less-than-prudent export to the PRC. This is
particularly true in light of Chinese involvement in the world
arms market."
The Staff of the U.S. Commander in Chief, U.S. Pacific Command,
agreed, noting in an August 1, 1994 memorandum to the Joint Staff
that it "concurs with the Joint Staff position to deny"
The Licensing Officer at the Defense Technology Security Administration
who was initially assigned responsibility for the McDonnell Douglas
license applications also recommended denial. The Licensing Officer
reiterated concerns as to CATIC's role in both civilian and military
production, and stated that "[n]o quantitative data has
been supplied by the exporter, which establishes a clear need
for this equipment in China [the PRC]."
Intelligence Community Assessments
Because of concerns that the McDonnell Douglas machine tools
would give the PRC manufacturing production capabilities in excess
of what was required for the Trunkliner Program, the Department
of Defense asked for information that would assist it in determining
whether these machine tools could be diverted to production of
PLA military aircraft.
A July 27, 1994 Defense Intelligence Agency response to a
request from the Defense Technology Security Administration provided
an assessment.26 It warned that, while similar machine tools
were available from foreign sources, there was a significant
risk of diversion. There was also the additional risk that the
PRC could reverse-engineer the machine tools, and then use them
in other commercial or military production. This would be consistent
with the PRC's practice of reverse-engineering other Western
technology for military purposes.
On August 9, 1994,
the Defense Intelligence Agency provided a supplemental report
explaining the results of its thorough assessment of the applicability
of the McDonnell Douglas machine tools to three known PLA fighter
aircraft programs, each of which incorporated stealth technologies.
The report concluded:
The establishment of an advanced machine tool facility presents
a unique opportunity for Chinese military aerospace facilities
to access advanced equipment which otherwise might be denied.
Similarly, placing these machine tools in one facility
would reduce the financial outlay needed to acquire duplicate
advanced machine tools for multiple military aircraft programs.
DIA . . . maintain[s] that the production capacity resulting
from the McDonnell Douglas sale is above and beyond the requirement
necessary for exclusive production of 20 MD-82 and 20 MD-90 McDonnell
Douglas [aircraft], which is the stated end use in the export
license application.
In fact, recent press reporting indicates China [the PRC]
has dropped plans to build 20 MD-82s and will limit future production
to just 20 MD-90 aircraft.27

The Defense Technology Security Administration had received
information from informants in September 1993 - prior to CATIC's
agreement to purchase the machine tools, and a full year before
the license was granted - that CATIC personnel had visited McDonnell
Douglas's Columbus, Ohio plant and videotaped the machine tools
in use, a potentially illegal technology transfer.
The Defense Technology Security Administration reported the
information to the U.S. Customs Service, and its agents later
paid a visit to the Columbus, Ohio plant. However, following
the visit, the U.S. Customs Service determined that no further
investigative action was warranted.
During the interagency licensing process for the machine tools,
the Defense Technology Security Administration also sought assessments
from the Central Intelligence Agency and from the Defense Intelligence
Agency, because of concerns that the PRC could use the McDonnell
Douglas five-axis machine tools for unauthorized purposes, particularly
to develop quieter submarines. Since the PRC wishes to enhance
its power projection capabilities and is making efforts to strengthen
its naval forces, the five-axis machine tools could easily be
diverted for projects that would achieve that goal.
The Defense Technology
Security Administration received additional information from
informants indicating that CATIC had provided the Shenyang Aircraft
Factory, an unauthorized location, with a list of the Columbus,
Ohio equipment that had been purchased from McDonnell Douglas.28
Circles around some of the items on the list, according to the
translation of a note from Shenyang that accompanied the list,
indicated that the Shenyang Aircraft Factory was interested in
obtaining those items from CATIC.
The Shenyang list was reportedly obtained from the discarded
trash at a CATIC subsidiary in California.
This list was viewed as proof that CATIC intended to divert
the machine tools to unauthorized locations. These concerns were
reported to the U.S. Customs Service in the summer of 1994.
Changes to the Trunkliner
Program
When McDonnell Douglas applied for export licenses on May 26,
1994, the applications noted that the machine tools would be
used by the Beijing CATIC Machining Center primarily for the
Trunkliner program. According to those license applications,
McDonnell Douglas had a contract with CATIC to co-produce 20
MD-82 and 20 MD-90 aircraft.29
In June 1994, McDonnell Douglas representatives provided a
series of briefings to officials from the Commerce, State, and
Defense Departments regarding the nature of the Trunkliner program
and McDonnell Douglas's other activities in the PRC.30 In July
1994, however, Flight International magazine announced that the
Trunkliner Program had been significantly changed.31
Instead of co-producing 20 MD-82 and 20 MD-90 aircraft in
the PRC, only 20 MD-90 aircraft would be built there. Although
the PRC would still acquire 20 additional aircraft, those would
now be built at McDonnell Douglas's Long Beach, California plant
- albeit with many parts that were to be fabricated in the PRC.
Prompted by the
press reports, the Defense Department sought additional information
from McDonnell Douglas in late July and early August 1994 regarding
how the machine tools would be employed if the number of aircraft
to be co-produced in the PRC was to be reduced.32
In letters to the Defense Technology Security Administration
dated August 8 and August 12, 1994, McDonnell Douglas provided
further clarification regarding the number and complexity of
the parts that were to be manufactured in the PRC.
Commerce Department Licensing Officer Christiansen recalls
that Commerce was not concerned that the number of aircraft to
be co-produced in the PRC might be reduced, since parts for the
aircraft would continue to be fabricated in the PRC.33
The Defense Technology Security Administration and the Defense
Department, on the other hand, were concerned since they thought
the machine tools might represent significant excess manufacturing
capacity that the PRC might be tempted to divert to other, unauthorized
uses.
The actual agreement that reduced the number of aircraft to
be assembled in the PRC was signed on November 4, 1994.34
Discussions in the Advisory
Committee for Export Policy
The McDonnell Douglas export license applications were discussed
at the June 24, 1994 meeting of the Advisory Committee for Export
Policy (ACEP).
According to the minutes of that meeting, no decision was
reached. The Defense Department representative at the meeting
advised against approving the licenses that day, because internal
Defense Department review was continuing. The Defense Department
believed the applications could be approved if reasonable safeguards
were put into place to prevent the machine tools from being used
for unauthorized purposes.35
Among the other agencies in attendance, the State Department
agreed with the Defense Department that further review was required.
The Department of Energy deferred to the Defense Department on
whether licenses should be approved.36
The license applications for the McDonnell Douglas machine
tools were again discussed at a meeting of the Advisory Committee
for Export Policy on July 28, 1994. Again, the matter was deferred
until the next Advisory Committee meeting. The minutes reflect
that "a final decision on this transaction would have to
be remanded until the next meeting of the ACEP, or as soon as
possible before that date, if all the agencies complete their
reviews earlier."
According to the ACEP minutes, the respective positions of
each agency on the applications were as follows:37
· [The Department
of Defense] said that, if it had to vote at that time, it would
recommend denial of the licenses because of concerns that
the machine tools would be diverted. Moreover, there were concerns
that the McDonnell Douglas machine tools would give the PRC excess
production capacity, thus allowing other machine tools in its
inventory to be diverted from civilian to military production.
· [The Department
of] Energy indicated that, without further review, "it would
have to defer to Defense in denying this transaction and the
underlying applications."
· [The Department
of] State recommended approval, provided that appropriate
safeguards and conditions could be formulated to minimize the
risk of diversion.
· [The] Arms
Control and Disarmament Agency agreed with DOD [the Defense Department]'s
position, noting that it would recommend denial of the license
applications should it have to vote at that time.
· [The Department
of] Commerce recommended approval with conditions to minimize
the risk of diversion to unauthorized uses.
The License Is Issued
The Advisory Committee member agencies later agreed to issue
the export licenses with 14 conditions.38
Those conditions required, among other things, that:
· The machine
tools were to be stored in one location pending completion of
the Beijing CATIC Machining Center
· McDonnell
Douglas was to provide quarterly reports to the Department of
Commerce and the Defense Technology Security Administration should
the Beijing CATIC Machining Center not be completed when the
machine tools arrived39

As a final part of the licensing process, a Department of
State cable was sent to the U.S. Embassy/Beijing on August 29,
1994 requesting that a senior CATIC official provide a written
end use assurance that the machine tools would only be used for
specified purposes.40
In a September 13, 1994 response, the U.S. Embassy/Beijing
reported that it had obtained the assurance from CATIC Deputy
Director Sun Deqing. However, the cable also noted that Deqing
had indicated to the embassy officials that:
CATIC plans to establish several specialized factories
under their new CATIC Machinery Company, and that [the CATIC
Machining Center] would be one of those plants. [The CATIC Machining
Center] will be established either near Beijing . . . or in Shijianzhuang
at the Hongxing Aircraft Company . . .41
McDonnell
Douglas's Plans
McDonnell Douglas's Limited
Role at the Machining Center
Although McDonnell Douglas was planning to place up to four of
its employees at the Beijing CATIC Machining Center, this was
not to occur until late 1995 at the earliest.
Moreover, the Machining Center was not to be a joint venture
between CATIC and McDonnell Douglas. Rather, it was to be a CATIC
facility that supported CATIC's responsibilities to the Trunkliner
Program.
Trunkliner Program
Media reports indicated in July 1994 that McDonnell Douglas and
the PRC were engaged in negotiations over the number of Trunkliner
aircraft to be assembled in
the PRC.42
Notes from a June 7, 1994 briefing that McDonnell Douglas
provided to U.S. Government officials regarding its license applications
indicate that McDonnell Douglas's representatives made references
to the fact that the company was negotiating with the PRC over
changing the mix of aircraft to be built in the PRC.43 CATIC
was to remain responsible for the fabrication of large numbers
of parts both for the aircraft that would be assembled in the
PRC, and for the aircraft that were to be built in the United
States under an "offset" agreement.
When queried by DOD officials regarding the continued PRC need
for the machine tools in light of possible changes to the Trunkliner
program, McDonnell Douglas responded in an August 8, 1994 letter
to Defense Technology Security Administration Acting Director
Sullivan. The letter provided further explanation regarding CATIC's
proposed use of the machine tools. A subsequent August 12, 1994
McDonnell Douglas letter to the Defense Technology Security Administration's
Colonel Henry Wurster noted:
. . . The PRC factories that are participating in the Trunk
Aircraft Program . . .do not have the capability individually,
nor collectively, to accomplish the work share the PRC has agreed
to (75 percent of the airframe) . . . If the licenses are denied,
the PRC would purchase these types of machines somewhere else
. . .
Commerce
Department Delays Investigating
Machine Tool Diversion for Six Months
The Commerce Department's
Actions in April 1995
As part of the licensing conditions for the machine tools, the
machines tools were to be stored in one location pending completion
of the Beijing machining center, and McDonnell Douglas was required
to ". . . notify the [U.S. Government] of the location of
the machine tools and update the [U.S. Government] with any changes
of location prior to plant completion."
In April 4, 1995 letters to the Commerce Department's Office
of Export Enforcement, Washington Field Office, and to the Technical
Information Support Division/Office of Exporter Services, McDonnell
Douglas reported that the machine tools were located at four
different places:
· Nine of
the machine tools were located at two sites in the port city
of Tianjin, a two hour drive from Beijing
· Four other
machine tools had yet to be exported and were located at Monitor
Aerospace Corporation in Amityville, New York
· Six machine
tools were reported to be at the Nanchang Aircraft Company 44
According to the letters, a McDonnell Douglas employee had
physically observed the machine tools in Tianjin, and confirmed
that they remained in their original crates. He had not personally
viewed the machine tools at the Nanchang Aircraft Company. However,
the McDonnell Douglas letters reported that:
. . . CATIC did provide the attached letter to substantiate
the list of equipment stored there. CATIC stated that the equipment
has not been unpacked and remains in the original crates. [Emphasis
in original]
The April 4 McDonnell Douglas letters did not trigger any
kind of investigative response.
On April 20, 1995, an interagency meeting was held in which
two McDonnell Douglas officials discussed the status and locations
of the machine tools. The McDonnell Douglas officials reported
that there had been changes in the number of aircraft that would
be built jointly with the PRC, and changes in the location of
the machine tools.
Since the machine
tools were not stored in one authorized location, this violated
the licensing conditions. McDonnell Douglas representatives
responded by stating that the machine tools had inadvertently
been moved to more than one location contrary to what had been
specified in the export licenses, but that the building for the
machine tools had not been completed and the tools had to be
stored somewhere in the interim.
Six months later the Office of Export Enforcement received
additional information from Commerce Department Licensing Officer
Christiansen that, in conjunction with a formal request from
the Defense Technology Security Administration, finally triggered
the opening of a formal investigation into the diversion.
The Commerce Department's
Actions in October 1995
An October 5, 1995 e-mail from Christiansen to a number of Commerce
Department officials, including Office of Export Enforcement
Acting Director Mark Menefee, reported that one of the six machine
tools in storage at the Nanchang Aircraft Company had been uncrated,
and was in the final stages of assembly.
In clear violation
of the export license, the machine tool - a hydraulic stretch
press - had been installed in a building that apparently
had been built specifically to accommodate that piece of equipment.
In his e-mail message, Christiansen stated:
For OEE [the Office of Export Enforcement], please investigate
to determine who was responsible for both the diversion of the
equipment originally and second who is responsible for the decision
to install the equipment at Nanchang.
The formal request from the Defense Technology Security Administration
for an investigation consisted of an October 4, 1995 letter from
its Director of Technology Security Operations.45 The Defense
Technology Security Administration informed the Acting Director
of the Office of Export Enforcement, Mark Menefee, that:
During last week's ACEP [Advisory Committee for Export
Policy] meeting a package of materials were handed out concerning
the violation of McDonnell Douglas's export license to the Chinese.
The facts of the case are that CATIC has intentionally
misused the export licenses to put controlled technology at a
facility not authorized to receive [it].
This facility as confirmed by the Chinese is involved in
the manufacture of both missiles and attack aircraft. I will
be forwarding a copy of those materials to you separately.
We believe that this is a very serious matter and that
the Office of Export Enforcement should conduct a serious investigation
into this matter . . .
The Office of Export Enforcement determined that an active
investigation was warranted, and opened a case file in early
November 1995. The case was forwarded to the Office of Export
Enforcement's Los Angeles Field Office for investigation because
McDonnell Douglas Aircraft in Long Beach, California - the exporter
of record for the machine tools - was located in the Los Angeles
Field Office's area of responsibility.
Allegation that the Commerce
Department
Discouraged the Los Angeles Field Office's Investigation
On June 7, 1998, the CBS program "60 Minutes" suggested
that the Commerce Department or other U.S. Government entities
were not necessarily interested in a complete and thorough investigation
of the machine tool diversion. Among other things, the program
included a brief appearance by Marc Reardon, a former Los Angeles
Field Office special agent, who had initially been assigned to
investigate the case. According to the official CBS transcript
of the program:
[CBS journalist Steve] KROFT: (Voiceover)
And there's still some debate over just how hard the Commerce
Department tried to find out who the bad guys really were. It
took them six months to open an investigation. And Marc Reardon,
the Commerce Department case agent assigned to investigate,
says higher ups in Washington didn't seem anxious to
get to the bottom of things.
Did you feel like you were getting support from the department?
Mr. Marc REARDON: No. Not at all.
. . . .
KROFT: (voiceover) Reardon, who is now an
investigator with the Food and Drug Administration, says he was
told who to interview and what questions he could and couldn't
ask.
Has that ever happened before?
Mr. REARDON: Not in my career.
KROFT: What did you make of it?
Mr. REARDON: That somebody didn't really
want the
truth coming out.46
The Select Committee
conducted an investigation of these allegations. However,
the Justice Department has requested that the Select Committee
not disclose the details of its investigation to protect the
Justice Department's prosecution of CATIC and McDonnell Douglas.
On February 5, 1996 U.S. News and World Report reported that
the machine tools had been diverted, and that an investigation
was underway. The Commerce Department received inquiries from
then-Chairman Alfonse M. D'Amato of the Senate Committee on Banking,
Housing and Urban Affairs, and from Chairman Benjamin A. Gilman
of the House Committee on International Relations, concerning
these reported allegations.47 Subsequently, Chairman Floyd D.
Spence of the House Committee on National Security and Representative
Frank Wolf asked the General Accounting Office to review the
facts and circumstances relating to the licensing and export
of the machine tools. The results of the General Accounting Office
review are summarized earlier in this chapter.48
The February 5, 1996 U.S. News and World Report also claimed
that "a confidential U.S. Commerce Department investigative
report" had been obtained and used in the article. Concerned
that the disclosure of such a report to U.S. News and World Report
may have violated the confidentiality provisions of Section 12
(c) of the Export Administration Act, the Office of Export Enforcement
initiated an internal inquiry. Responsibility for the disclosure
was never determined.
The Office of Export Enforcement's
Los Angeles Field Office's
Request for a Temporary Denial Order Against CATIC
Under the provisions of Part 766.24 of the Export Administration
Regulations (EAR), the Assistant Secretary for Export Enforcement
is authorized to issue a Temporary Denial Order (TDO):
. . . upon a showing by [the Bureau of Export Enforcement]
that the order is necessary in the public interest to prevent
an imminent violation of the [Export Administration Act], the
[Export Administration Regulations], or any order, license
or authorization issued thereunder.49
In late November 1995, the Los Angeles Field Office requested
that the Commerce Department issue a TDO against CATIC.50 The
TDO request was prepared as a means to compel CATIC to comply
with the terms of the machine tool export licenses by preventing
the approval of future export licenses.
The Commerce Department
declined to issue the TDO. In a December 7, 1995 memorandum,
the Office of Export Enforcement Headquarters returned the TDO
case report because it contained a number of technical deficiencies,
including:
· Did not
include licensing determination for each commodity that was exported.
Licensing determinations were necessary elements of proof that
the commodities required a license to be exported.
· Did not
include any documentary evidence such as shipping and export
control documents to confirm that the exports had occurred.
· Did not
include a schedule of violations that described the specific
violations that allegedly had occurred.
· Did not
use the proper form and format that Office of Export Enforcement
regulations specified in the Office's Special Agent Manual.
Headquarters, noted, however, that "the violations do
appear to be deliberate and substantial." It instructed
the Los Angeles Field Office to give the investigation a high
priority. Moreover, it instructed them to conduct additional
interviews and to obtain relevant documentation.
The Los Angeles Field Office was concerned that Headquarters
was using those technical deficiencies as a bureaucratic rationale
for not seeking Commerce Department approval of the TDO request.
At the date of the Select Committee's Final Report (January
3, 1999), the Office of Export Enforcement and the U.S. Customs
Service reportedly are continuing to investigate the machine
tool diversion under the direction of the U.S. Attorney for the
District of Columbia.
The
PRC's Diversion of the Machine Tools
CATIC Letter Suggests Trunkliner
Program at Risk
In a September 30, 1993 letter to McDonnell Douglas Aircraft
Company President Robert Hood, CATIC Vice President Tang Xiaoping
expressed concerns that negotiations were at an impasse for CATIC's
purchase of the machine tools and other equipment.51 The letter
seemed to suggest that the Trunkliner Program would be at risk
if a deal could not be worked out. According to the letter:
. . . I think for sure, whether or not this procurement
project will be successful shall have a big influence on the
trunk liner programme [sic] and long term cooperation between
[Aviation Industries Corporation of China] and [McDonnell Douglas].
. .
McDonnell Douglas characterized Tang Xiaoping's letter as
nothing more than a negotiating ploy to try to get McDonnell
Douglas to lower the price that it was asking for the machine
tools. McDonnell Douglas officials said they did not consider
the letter to be a veiled threat by CATIC to cancel or alter
the Trunkliner Program if a deal for the machine tool equipment
could not be worked out.
According to the Defense Department, however, CATIC had a
longstanding, productive relationship with McDonnell Douglas,
had made major investments in the Trunkliner Program, and was
not going to jeopardize those investments and the Trunkliner
Program in a dispute over the price of used machine tools.
Indeed, the purchase price that was eventually agreed to between
McDonnell Douglas and CATIC was acceptable to both parties. The
value of the machine tools was based upon an appraisal provided
by a commercial auctioneer. McDonnell Douglas added a 20-30 percent
markup. CATIC acquired all of the machine tools it had originally
sought, as well as various other tools, equipment, furniture
and other items as part of the $5.4 million purchase agreement.
The machine tools and other equipment purchased by CATIC were
excess to McDonnell Douglas's needs. According to McDonnell Douglas,
the more modern machine tools and equipment from the Columbus,
Ohio plant were not sold to CATIC but were redistributed to other
McDonnell Douglas facilities.
According to the March 1, 1994 appraisal, the value of 31
machine tools sold to CATIC - including the 19 machine tools
that required export licenses - was $3.5 million.52 This appraisal
did not assess the value of other tools, equipment, and furnishings
that were included as part of the purchase agreement.
CATIC's Efforts to Create
the Beijing
Machining Center with Monitor Aerospace
Doug Monitto was the President of Monitor Aerospace Corporation,
an Amityville, New York-based company that manufactured aircraft
components. In the fall of 1993, Monitto met with CATIC representatives
in the PRC to discuss joint venture opportunities.
During those discussions, CATIC expressed an interest in subcontracting
with Monitor Aerospace for the production of aircraft parts.
Specifically, Monitor would assist the PRC in the production
of certain aircraft parts that CATIC was to manufacture for Boeing
as part of an offset contract.
Monitto says he proposed that CATIC convince Boeing to transfer
$10 million of the offset work directly to Monitor for one year.
During that year, Monitor Aerospace would assist CATIC in designing
and laying out a new machining center.53
Thereafter, CATIC itself, with Monitor's assistance, could provide
all subsequent manufacturing for the Boeing parts.
Representatives of CATIC, Aviation Industries of China, and
Monitto signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) regarding
the machining center joint venture on January 24, 1994.54 CATIC
officials took Monitto to an industrial park in Beijing where
the machining center was to be built.
In a letter dated January 27, 1994, CATIC informed Boeing
that it had signed the joint venture MOU, and asked if Boeing
would consider providing Monitor Aerospace with the offset work.55
However, Boeing, in an April 1994 letter, declined CATIC's offer.56
In the spring of 1994, Monitto says CATIC officials again
approached him about a machining center joint venture.
Although negotiations
were intermittent, Monitto says CATIC informed him in the summer
of 1994 that it had purchased machine tools from McDonnell Douglas.
As Monitto recalls, CATIC officials asked for his assistance
in reassembling the machine tools, and placing them in a machining
center. However, he says the precise location of the machining
center had not been determined at that time.57
A July 29, 1994 letter from Monitto to Sun Deqing, CATIC's
Deputy Director, states:
As a result of your visit we have prepared an alternative
approach that will help us achieve our mutually desired goal
of building a "State of the Art" profile milling machine
shop in China.
Monitor Aerospace would like to offer its assistance to
CATIC in entering this new marketplace as both a partner and
as a technical expert in the field.
The most significant feature of this new approach would
be the fact that Monitor would also be the launch customer of
the new joint venture.58
Additional discussions between CATIC and Monitor Aerospace
regarding establishing the machining center appear to have continued
into the fall of 1994, after the export licenses for the McDonnell
Douglas machine tools had been approved.
According to a September 23, 1994 letter to CATIC's Sun Deqing,
Monitto proposed that, as part of a joint venture to manufacture
aircraft parts in the PRC, CATIC would:
. . . supply an appropriate building located in the Beijing-Tianjin
metropolitan area which permits growth. CATIC will provide other
necessary infrastructure and planning support, including arranging
for appropriate utility hook-ups, tax concessions, customs clearance,
etc.59
Sometime in the
fall of 1994, Monitto recalls that CATIC informed him that it
intended to place the McDonnell Douglas machine tools at a facility
located in the city of Shijiazhuang. Monitto drove to the
facility to check out the offer but decided the location was
too far from his base of operations in Beijing to be viable.
It was "not something I wanted to do," Monitto comments.60
According to Monitto, he has had no further substantive discussions
with CATIC regarding the establishment of a machining facility,
although he does remain in contact with CATIC on other business-related
matters. According to Monitto, McDonnell Douglas was never a
party to any of his negotiations with CATIC regarding the establishment
of the machining center.61
According to McDonnell Douglas, the first indication it had
that CATIC would not establish the machining center took place
during a phone call with a CATIC official in May 1995. Subsequently,
in a letter dated July 5, 1995, CATIC Supply Vice President Zhang
Jianli formally advised McDonnell Douglas that an agreement could
not be reached with Monitor Aerospace for a machining center,
and that Nanchang Aircraft Factory was interested in purchasing
the six machine tools that were stored at that factory.
According to the letter:
You were aware that we planned to set up a joint venture
with Monitor Aerospace, which would be the enduser [sic] in applying
[for] the license. Unfortunately both sides couldn't reach agreement.
Without this agreement we muse [sic] find other uses or purchasers
in China. 62
According to McDonnell Douglas, it believed that CATIC was
serious in its plans to build a machining center in Beijing to
produce airplane parts for the Trunkliner Program.
McDonnell Douglas acknowledges, however, that it never asked
for, nor was it shown, architectural drawings, floor plans, or
other information to indicate that plans for the facility were
progressing.
Diversion
of the Machine Tools to Nanchang Aircraft Company
When the machine tools arrived in the PRC, McDonnell Douglas
personnel discovered that nine of the machines were stored at
two different locations in the port city of Tianjin.63
Moreover, a March 27, 1995 letter from Zhang Jianli, the Vice
President of CATIC Supply Company, to McDonnell Douglas's Beijing
office explained that six more of the machine tools had been
shipped to Nanchang for storage. These machine tools, CATIC represented,
remained in their crates.64
Two McDonnell Douglas
representatives visited Nanchang to inspect the tools on August
23, 1995 and learned that one of the machine tools - a hydraulic
stretch press - had been uncrated and was situated inside a building.
Moreover, the building had been built specifically to accommodate
that piece of equipment.
Although electrical power had not yet been connected,65 the
size of the building and the manner of its construction suggested
to them that this facility had been custom built to house McDonnell
Douglas equipment, and had been planned for several years:
· Possibly
as early as December 23, 1993, when CATIC and McDonnell Douglas
signed an agreement for the purchase of machine tools and other
equipment from McDonnell Douglas's Columbus, Ohio plant
· Perhaps
even as early as late 1992, when CATIC first expressed interest
in the purchase
CATIC (USA) documents66 indicate that an official of "TAL
Industries" was primarily responsible for supervising the
PRC team that coordinated and supervised the packing and crating
of the machine tools and other equipment at the Columbus, Ohio
plant.67 According to its responses to a series of Select Committee
interrogatories, TAL Industries is a subsidiary of CATIC Supply
in the PRC. CATIC Supply, in turn, is a wholly-owned subsidiary
of CATIC.68 According to TAL Industries, CATIC Supply owns 90
percent of its stock, and CATIC (USA) owns the remaining 10 percent.69
TAL Industries is located at the same El Monte, California address
and has the same telephone number as CATIC (USA).70
Some of the McDonnell
Douglas equipment had been sold or given by CATIC to the Nanchang
Aircraft Company. At least some of these transfers of ownership
must have occurred before any of the equipment was exported from
the United States. In addition, the PRC team that coordinated
the disassembly and packing of the equipment at the Columbus,
Ohio plant included representatives from the Nanchang Aircraft
Company, who apparently were responsible for overseeing the packing
of the equipment it was obtaining from CATIC.
Internally, CATIC specifically referenced the cargo as Nanchang's
equipment.
Separately, the Nanchang Aircraft Company's Technology Improvement
Office submitted inquiries to CATIC concerning the location of
various pieces of its-Nanchang's-equipment.
Since most of the Columbus, Ohio equipment that was purchased
by CATIC did not require an export license,71 CATIC's subsequent
sale of that equipment to Nanchang Aircraft Company would not
violate U.S. export controls.72 But the CATIC (USA) documents
pertaining to Nanchang Aircraft Company's equipment do not explicitly
identify the equipment, including the six machine tools that
were later found at the Nanchang Aircraft Factory in violation
of the export licenses.73
Nanchang
Accepts Responsibility
In a September 13, 1995 letter to McDonnell Douglas China
Program Manager Hitt, the Vice President of the Nanchang Aircraft
Company accepted full responsibility for uncrating and installing
the hydraulic stretch press in a newly constructed building.
According to the letter:
Now I would like to review the detail and apologize for
the result caused by the action we made. The following is the
reason why we put the [hydraulic stretch] press into the pit.
When we heard that the agreement had not been made between
CATIC and Monitor [Aerospace] concerning the cooperation. [sic]
We expressed our intention to CATIC that we would like to buy
some of the machines and at that time CATIC also intended to
sell to us.
But they mentioned to us for several times that the cases
can not be unpacked until the amendment of enduser [sic] is gained
from the Department of U.S. Commerce. We do not think that there
is any problem to get the permission for the second hand press,
which has not got new technology because we have the experience
that when we import the press from [a foreign manufacturer of
machine tools].
Under this guidance of the thought, we started to prepare
the fundation [sic] in order to save time.74
The letter went on to argue that, because of its size, the
hydraulic stretch press had to be uncrated in order to move it
to Nanchang from its port of entry in Shanghai. Moreover, the
stretch press had then been moved into the "pit" that
it would occupy so the new building could be built around it.
To do otherwise, the PRC letter said, would have disrupted the
construction of the new building.75
The Nanchang Aircraft Company official also apologized for
the events that had occurred, and provided assurances that no
further installation of the hydraulic stretch press would take
place at the Nanchang Aircraft Factory until permission to do
so was given by the U.S. Government.76
A July 5, 1995 letter to McDonnell Douglas China Program Manager
Hitt from CATIC Supply Vice President Zhang Jianli reflects CATIC's
knowledge that prior U.S. Government approval for the transaction
was required. According to the CATIC Supply letter:
Nanchang Aircraft Factory is very much interested in 6
sets of the equipment. We would like to sell to them if we are
allowed to do so because we understand that the licenses are
only good for the Beijing machining center as it was approved
originally.
Is it possible to request the United States Commerce department
[sic] to approve selling the machines to Nanchang Aircraft Company?
The machines are being stored there now, and they are required
not to be unpacked until we receive approval from the Department
of Commerce of the U.S.A.77 [Emphasis added]
When Hitt and a colleague visited the Nanchang Aircraft Company
on August 23, 1995, the Nanchang Aircraft Company officials informed
them that one of the machine tools delivered to Nanchang had
been placed inside a building "to protect it from the elements."
At the insistence
of McDonnell Douglas's Hitt, the PRC officials took him to the
building, where he found a hydraulic stretch press installed
in a building that appeared to have been specifically built for
it. The building had actually been built around the hydraulic
stretch press, since Hitt observed no openings or doorways that
were large enough to have allowed the machine tool to be moved
into the building from elsewhere. Parts for the machine were
strewn about the building in such a manner as to indicate that
efforts were underway to reassemble the machine and restore it
to operational condition. Although electrical power had not been
connected to operate the stretch press, trenches for the power
cables had been dug and other electrical work had been completed.
Hitt says the storage explanation he originally was given
by Nanchang officials was, without question, disingenuous.
Concerned over Hitt's expressions of anger at seeing the partially
installed stretch press, Hitt says Nanchang officials tried to
reassure him that they only intended to use the stretch press
for civilian production at the factory.
Since early 1996, the McDonnell Douglas machine tools have
been stored at Shanghai Aviation Industrial Corporation (SAIC).
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