The Washington Post revealed that China was assisting Iraqi air defense, an allegation promptly denied by Iraq. According to the Post article, Chinese engineers were helping Iraq to install a network of fiber-optic communications and computers designed to track and destroy U.S. warplanes. (The export also violates U.N. weapons embargoes against Saddam.)
President Bush's national security adviser confirmed last Thursday that Chinese engineers were indeed helping Iraq.
The real story behind Iraq's high-tech buildup remains untold until now.
The Chinese fiber-optic air defense system in the Iraqi desert is in fact of U.S. origin. In 1994, Chinese spymaster Gen. Ding Henggao obtained the advanced fiber-optic system through his contacts inside the Clinton administration.
According to documents obtained using the Freedom of Information Act, in 1994 Ding was a close friend of Clinton Secretary of Defense William Perry.
Perry and Ding's relationship spans three administrations. Perry reportedly met Ding in the late 1970s during the Carter administration.
By 1994, Ding had risen to command the Chinese Army military research bureau "COSTIND," or the Commission on Science Technology and Industry for National Defense.
COSTIND, according to the General Accounting Office, "oversees development of China's weapon systems and is responsible for identifying and acquiring telecommunications technology applicable for military use."
In 1994, the personal consultant to Perry teamed with Ding to buy an advanced AT&T fiber-optic communications system for "civilian" use inside China.
The communications system slipped past U.S. exports laws as a joint U.S.-Chinese commercial venture called "Hua Mei." The Chinese part of the venture was run by a newly formed firm named "Galaxy New Technology."
Stanford professor John Lewis, a close friend and the paid personal consultant for Perry, was the key board member of the project.
According to the Far Eastern Economic Review, Lewis had his friend Perry write a letter on his behalf to U.S. government officials, favoring the fiber-optic export to China.
Lewis located Adlai Stevenson III, the former Democratic senator from Illinois, to lead the American side of the joint venture. Gen. Ding's wife, Madam Nie Li, headed the joint project as the Chinese co-chairman. Lewis contracted AT&T to ship the secure communication system directly to a Chinese army unit using Galaxy New Technology as a front.
The documents show that Lewis not only worked for Stanford University and the Chinese army at the same time, but that he also worked for the U.S. Defense Department.
In August 1994, Lewis and Secretary of Defense Perry traveled to Beijing to meet with Ding. According to the official list of attendees, Lewis accompanied Perry as his paid "personal" consultant.
Chinese Firm Backed by Military
AT&T officials who sold most of the equipment and software were adamant that there was no need to check the Chinese firm because the "civilian" Madam Nie Lie led it.
Yet, the so-called civilian firm was actually packed with Chinese army officers and experts. Madam Nie Lie was not only the wife of Gen. Ding Henggao; Madam Nie was actually Lt. Gen. Nie Lie of the Chinese army.
Another member of New Galaxy Technology, according to a Defense Department document, was Director and President "Mr. Deng Changru." Deng is also known as Lt. Col. Deng Changru of the People's Liberation Army, head of the Chinese communications corps.
Still another Chinese army officer on the Galaxy New Technology staff was co-General Manager "Mr. Xie Zhichao," better known in military circles as Lt. Col. Xie Zhichao, director of the Chinese army's Electronics Design Bureau.
In 1997, Rep. Henry Hyde pressed unsuccessfully for the Department of Justice to investigate the Galaxy New Technology scandal in a letter outlining his concerns.
According to Hyde, "in 1994, sophisticated telecommunications technology was transferred to a U.S.-Chinese joint venture called HUA MEI, in which the Chinese partner is an entity controlled by the Chinese military. This particular transfer included fiber-optic communications equipment, which is used for high-speed, secure communications over long distances. Also included in the package was advanced encryption software."
In 1994, the Chinese spymaster Gen. Ding personally penetrated the U.S. Defense Department at the highest levels, using his contacts with Secretary Perry to obtain a secure fiber-optic network.
There was more than profit for Ding and his Chinese army company packed with electronics experts.
The Chinese army's Electronics Design Bureau modified the American fiber-optic communication system, changing it into a secure air-defense system. The Chinese army then exported the newly modified system to Iraq.
The Iraqi air defense network, NATO code-named "Tiger Song," is made of U.S. and French fiber-optic parts modified by the People's Liberation Army.
Iraqi missiles guided by Tiger Song regularly attack U.S. fighter jets. U.S. jets have recently retaliated, striking back with bombs and missiles.
Chinese military engineers from 2nd and 4th Signals Corps of the Chinese Army Headquarters are even now repairing the damaged Iraqi air defense system.
The cat-and-mouse game of missile and electronic combat with Saddam is expected to continue for years as the Chinese army engineers improve the deadly Tiger Song network.
In 1998, Gen. Ding retired from active service in the Chinese army.
However, he was decorated by President Jiang Zemin as a hero of the Chinese communist party for his successful operations against America.
Ding's attack on America ranks as one of the most successful espionage operations of the 20th century.
Tiger Song, the Chinese fiber-optic air defense system in the Iraqi desert, is a legacy of the Clinton years that will now need to be revisited regularly by U.S. bombers in the 21st century.
