News-Info-Alerts

To: ALL

From: Andi Wolos & Bob Necci

(POW-MIA InterNetwork)

Re: American POWs May Be HEld In North Korea

Date: July 15, 2000

US Defense Secretary Visits China
The Associated Press
By ROBERT BURNS

BEIJING (AP) - US Defense Secretary William Cohen arrived in the Chinese capital Tuesday to urge restraint in exporting missile technologies and to tell China's leaders that the Clinton administration intends to continue pursuing the development of a nationwide defense against long-range missiles.

In an interview en route to Beijing, Cohen said he would tell his Chinese counterpart, Gen. Chi Haotian, that the United States sees the spread of missile technologies as a long-term threat to America.

``What I will say is there continues to be a proliferation of missile technology which will pose a threat to the security of the United States, and we will continue our programs for researching and developing both theater missile defense systems and a national missile defense system,'' Cohen told reporters.

Theater missile defense refers to weaponry such as the Patriot antimissile system which are designed to shoot down shorter-range missiles like those China has aimed at Taiwan across the Taiwan Strait. A national missile defense would shoot down long-range missile capable of reaching US soil.

China strongly opposes US national missile defense as a threat to the 1972 Antiballistic Missile treaty and as a potential means of undermining the deterrent effect of China's own nuclear force. It also wants the United States to forswear providing Asian-theater missile defenses to Taiwan.

Cohen expects to meet with President Jiang Zemin and other senior Chinese leaders on his first trip to China since Beijing cut off military relations with the United States in response to the US bombing of the Chinese embassy in Belgrade last May. The United States insisted the attack was a mistake.

On his arrival at the Beijing airport Tuesday after a daylong flight from Washington, Cohen was greeted by Gen. Xiong Guangkai, deputy chief of the general staff, and by Joseph Prueher, the American ambassador to Beijing.

The United States and China are at odds on many national security issues, in addition to missile defense. Chief among these is US arms sales to Taiwan, China's buildup of offensive ballistic missiles on its coastline facing Taiwan, and US concerns about Chinese exports of missile technology to Pakistan.

After two days of arms control talks in Beijing last week, senior US arms control adviser John Holum said there had been progress but the missile proliferation issue remained unresolved. Cohen said he would use his visit to again raise the administration's concerns about Chinese exports of missile technology to Pakistan.

In the interview en route to Beijing on Monday, Cohen left open the possibility that he might recommend to President Clinton that he take the first steps toward constructing a national missile defense, even though a much ballyhooed flight test of a prototype missile interceptor last Saturday was a flop.

The booster rocket which carried the missile interceptor into space in search of a mock warhead failed to release the interceptor, so it never had a chance to hit its target over the Pacific Ocean. The booster rocket also took an unscripted tumble during the flight, and it had a battery problem.

Cohen said he would consult further with technical experts before delivering his recommendation to Clinton in August.

``I still could make a recommendation,'' Cohen said, apparently meaning he was not ruling out the possibility of telling Clinton he should proceed with preliminary construction work even while awaiting more test results.

During his two days of meetings in Beijing, Cohen also is expected to raise the subject of cooperation on unearthing new information about the fate of American POWs from the Korean War whose remains are unaccounted for. The Pentagon is pressing China to open its military archives, believing they might shed light on cases involving US servicemen who were held in prison camps run by China. The Pentagon also has evidence that servicemen were taken from North Korea to China during the war.

Robert Jones, head of the Pentagon office in charge of POW and MIA matters, is scheduled to visit Beijing later this month.