OT - China and Libya (Now Libya Wants To Build Hypersonic Missiles) --

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FRIDAY, JANUARY 21, 2000 China and Libya

The Pentagon last month discovered a new customer for Chinese military technology. Sensitive intelligence revealed China plans to build a hypersonic wind tunnel in Libya as part of Tripoli's program to build missiles. The wind tunnel would be used to design rockets and simulate missile flight. In addition, Chinese officials also arranged for Libyan technicians to travel to China for missile-related training and education.

The intelligence report is unwelcome news for Clinton administration policy-makers (and will probably be suppressed within the government as in the past) because it further exposes China's continuing proliferation of missile technology to rogue states. The timing is also bad for the administration's plan to launch a major public relations campaign to win congressional approval of Beijing's entry into the World Trade Organization.

If the wind tunnel is sold later this year and the technicians are trained, the administration might be forced to impose economic sanctions on Beijing for violating U.S. missile sanctions law.

China was last sanctioned in 1993 for selling missile components to Pakistan. The sanctions were lifted after China promised to behave. The latest intelligence on Libyan missile assistance contradicts the promise. The White House in the past played down Chinese help to the Libyan missile program, arguing that the North African state is still years away from having a long-range missile capability.

{Large Snip}

Bill Gertz and Rowan Scarborough are national security reporters for The Washington Times.

-- snooze button (
alarmclock_2000@yahoo.com), January 21, 2000

Answers

WorldNetDaily Link

-- snooze button (alarmclock_2000@yahoo.com), January 21, 2000.

Who was talking about Dr. Seus's "Sneetches"?

-- Hokie (Hokie_@hotmail.com), January 21, 2000.

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