By Bill Gertz . The
Washington Times. June 14, 2001
China´s government yesterday denied selling weapons to Cuba, but
the State Department said it was investigating arms and explosives transfers to
the island.
Zhang Yuanyuan, a Chinese Embassy spokesman, said in an interview that
Beijing has not shipped weapons to the communist island off the U.S. coast.
"China and Cuba have diplomatic relations, and the two countries´
militaries have relations," Mr. Zhang said. "For some years, China has
supplied the Cuban military with logistics items -- never arms."
He declined to specify what type of equipment was transferred.
Asked if explosives were delivered, Mr. Zhang would not answer directly
but said, "explosives could be used for civilian purposes, to clear some
mine shaft."
State Department lawyers and arms officials, meanwhile, are reviewing
intelligence reports about the military shipments delivered to Cuba on China´s
state-run shipping company over the past several months, said a senior
department official.
If the deliveries are deemed "lethal" assistance, they could
trigger a 1996 law requiring U.S. sanctions against China.
The official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said an earlier
review showed that Chinese military goods sent to Cuba did not appear to fit the
department´s definition of "lethal" assistance.
The new review is focusing on the delivery in December of a shipment of
explosives with both military and commercial uses that could be considered
lethal aid under U.S. law. It also is focusing on other arms transfers.
"People are looking to see what else there might be," one
official said.
Under a 1996 law, any nation that provides lethal military assistance
to a nation identified as a state sponsor of international terrorism must be
slapped with U.S. economic sanctions. Cuba is among the nine states designated
as terrorism sponsors.
U.S. intelligence officials told The Washington Times that a well-known
Chinese arms dealer had arranged at least three shipments of weapons last year
from China to the Cuban port of Mariel.
The last shipment in December included what U.S. officials called "dual-use"
explosives and detonation cord that could be used for either military arms or
commercial blasting.
All the shipments were made on freighters belonging to the state-owned
China Ocean Shipping Co. (Cosco).
Cosco spokesman Aaron Forel said yesterday he would not comment on any
military deliveries by the company to Cuba.
"I can´t really respond," he said. "I´m only
capable of talking about Cosco."
Cosco is a "commercial entity" whose activities "are
purely commercial and always legal, in conformance with all international
maritime and port regulations," Mr. Forel said. "We have never
knowingly shipped any illegal cargo."
U.S. Customs Service officials intercepted a Cosco shipment of 2,000
Chinese AK-47 assault rifles that were being delivered to San Francisco in 1996.
The shipping line also has been linked in the past by U.S. intelligence to arms
and missile component deliveries to such countries as Pakistan and North Korea.
Despite the Chinese government´s denials, James Kelly, assistant
secretary of state for East Asia, told a House committee on Tuesday that the
issue involves weapons deliveries.
He testified that he planned to "get more fully briefed on the
arms to Cuba."
"We´re very much concerned with this [People´s
Liberation Army] cooperation and movement of military equipment into Cuba,"
Mr. Kelly told the House International Relations Committee.
On Capitol Hill yesterday, Sen. John McCain, Arizona Republican and a
member of the Armed Services Committee, said he was "deeply concerned"
about reports of Chinese arms transfers to the communist island.
"I think Congress should oversight it," Mr. McCain said,
noting that reporting by The Times on similar issues "has credibility with
many of us here on the Hill."
"It´s one in a series [of violations]," Mr. McCain said.
"We know that they have been providing optic capabilities to the Iraqis to
improve their defense capabilities. We know of the port facility they have in
Pakistan. So there´s a series of actions taking place. So I think we not
only ought to look at that specifically, but at Chinese actions overall."
China came under fire from the Bush administration earlier this year
for providing military technology to Iraq, specifically a fiber-optic
communications network with military applications.
Sen. James M. Inhofe, Oklahoma Republican and also a member of Armed
Services panel, said China´s previous behavior has raised his concerns over
the Cuba connection.
"If this were just one isolated case, where China has sold arms to
Cuba, that would be one thing. However, this is a behavioral pattern that has
persisted since 1996 when they made the statements about the rockets in the
Taiwan Straits, trying to influence the [Taiwanese] election."
Mr. Inhofe said China´s belligerence toward the United States was
highlighted by the reported remarks of Chinese Defense Minister Chi Haotian, who
said last year that war with the United States over Taiwan was "inevitable."
"They´ve been positioning themselves, and this is just one
more position," Mr. Inhofe said. "On top of that, saying that war is
inevitable, I just see this as a consistent behavior pattern that is continuing
to be scary. I think we ought to have hearings on all of these things. Of course
we have had some."
• Dave Boyer contributed to this report.
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