By Bill Gertz The
Washington Times. June 12, 2001
China is shipping arms and explosives to Cuba in a sign of increased
military cooperation between Beijing and Havana, The Washington Times has
learned.
At least three arms shipments were traced from China to the Cuban port of
Mariel over the past several months. All the arms were aboard vessels belonging
to the state-owned China Ocean Shipping Co. (Cosco), according to U.S.
intelligence officials.
Intelligence officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity said
details of the arms shipments are sketchy but all involved a "known Chinese
arms dealer" who arranged the transfers.
One of the cargoes was described as dual-use explosives and detonation
cord. The explosives were said to be "military-grade" material.
The latest shipment took place in December. That arms delivery
coincided with the visit to Cuba in late December by China´s military chief
of staff, Gen. Fu Quanyou. Gen. Fu signed a military cooperation agreement with
Havana aimed at modernizing Cuba´s outdated Russian weapons.
The arms shipments to Cuba could lead to the imposition of economic
sanctions on China and Cosco, according to U.S. officials.
A 1996 amendment to the 1962 Foreign Assistance Act requires that
economic sanctions be imposed on any nation or company that provides lethal
military assistance to a nation designated as a state sponsor of terrorism. Cuba
is on the State Department´s list of nine nations designated as supporters
of global terrorism.
Sanctions would disrupt a major portion of the U.S.-Chinese shipping
market controlled by Cosco, whose business lines include port terminals and
warehousing, insurance, real estate and hotel management.
Cuba has been increasing its ties to China in recent months. In April,
Chinese President Jiang Zemin traveled to Havana and signed agreements worth
about $400 million in loans to Havana.
Other Chinese activities in Cuba include electronic eavesdropping on
the United States and Chinese government radio broadcasting, according to U.S.
officials familiar with intelligence reports. China also recently agreed to
modernize Cuba´s telecommunications network.
A CIA spokesman declined to comment on the arms shipments.
Spokesmen for Cosco could not be reached for comment.
Wei Jiafu, Cosco group president and chief executive officer, told
reporters and editors of The Washington Times on June 2 that the shipping line
has no connection to the Chinese military and is only interested in making
money.
Mr. Wei insisted during the interview that the People´s Liberation
Army had no influence on the company´s operations or global business
strategy.
However, the shipper´s only shareholder is the Chinese government.
Mr. Wei and other Cosco officials were in the United States to meet
port officials in Massachusetts, where they had reached an agreement with the
Massachusetts Port Authority to begin a weekly shipping service between Shanghai
and Boston beginning next year.
Cosco has been linked in the past by U.S. intelligence agencies to
illegal smuggling and international arms trafficking.
James Mulvenon, a China analyst with the RAND Corp., said that the
Chinese Communist Party´s military organ approved establishment of Cosco as
an arm of the Chinese navy in 1985.
Mr. Mulvenon stated earlier this year, in his book "Soldiers of
Fortune," that Cosco´s establishment "legitimized the use of navy
ships for civilian shipping and thus provided a legal cover for the navy´s
smuggling."
The Chinese navy was linked in 1985 to illegal smuggling in foreign
cars, vans, TVs and VCRs out of Hainan island in the South China Sea, he wrote.
In 1998, U.S. intelligence agencies tracked a Cosco freighter from
Shanghai to Karachi, Pakistan, with a load of weapons-related goods, including
specialty metals and electronics used in the production of Chinese-designed
Baktar Shikha anti-tank missiles.
The shipment was carried aboard a vessel owned by the company
subsidiary Cosco Tianjin.
The arms transfers by Cosco ships contradict statements to Congress
made in 1997 by National Security Adviser Samuel R. Berger, who told senators
there was no credible evidence linking Cosco to illegal activity, including arms
smuggling.
Edward Timperlake, a former House committee investigator, said a Cosco
executive was among a group of Chinese officials who were granted access to the
White House and to Mr. Clinton´s weekly radio address in 1995 -- days after
Democratic Party fund-raiser Johnny Chung made a large payment to the White
House for the president´s re-election campaign.
The visit was checked by White House National Security Council aide
Robert Suettinger, who wrote in a memorandum that giving White House photographs
to the group of Chinese officials and Chung, who in 1998 pleaded guilty to
making illegal campaign contributions, would not cause "any lasting damage
to U.S. foreign policy."
Mr. Suettinger, who described Chung as a "hustler," also
stated in a White House memo: "And to the degree it motivates him to
continue contributing to the [Democratic National Committee], who am I to
complain," Mr. Suettinger said.
"Cosco is the merchant marine arm of the PLA Navy," Mr.
Timperlake said. "If the Chinese military ever mobilized troops for action
against Taiwan, Cosco would be part of the operation."
Cosco ships would provide arms and logistics support for Chinese
military operations, U.S. officials said.
Al Santoli, a national security aide to Rep. Dana Rorhabacher, said
Cosco is well-known for worldwide support of Chinese weapons sales. |